New Experiences
by Collasoll
Summary: This is set in an alternate universe where there is no Shadow World and Clary and Simon get to follow their dreams of attending college for the arts. Here they will be introduced to fellow arts majors: Jace Wayland, Isabelle Lightwood, and Alec Lightwood who they grow close to rather quickly. See where this romantic entanglement leads and how many hearts break.
1. Chapter 1

High school can be tough when you are a nerd with virtually no friends. Simon Lewis fit that category perfectly he had his best friend in the world, Clary Fray, but she was his only friend. Simon's sense of style mainly pertained to graphic t-shirts that say things like "Chick Magnet" which tended to brand him as nerdy which caused most girls (especially the popular ones) to avoid him.

His looks were not too bad though: long eye lashes, caramel colored hair, a slim but not muscular build, and hipster glasses to top things off. As Simon was now he was most likely cute or close to it, but if he put in some effort and started to work out, traded in his glasses for contacts, and changed his fashion sense then he might even be a lady killer. But was he aware of this? The answer is no.

Clary was the only girl who he hung out with at all through the years, which repelled the other girls because the two were so close that the student body was under the impression that they were dating every year. Which Simon would not mind at all, but Clary was practically oblivious to this and everything else that had to deal with guys. Which was why Simon and Clary worked so well together, they both struggled to get along with other people.

The two met over a decade ago in kindergarten and had hit it off in no time. Their mutual interest in anime, the arts, and comic books drew them together. Ever since the two regularly had sleepovers (which they still did) and even slept in the same bed until the fourth grade or so.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day for the pair as it was their orientation day as college students at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. While Clary was majoring in art, Simon was majoring in music.

Simon was staying over at Clary's because they were too hyped up about starting college to do nothing.

So, Clary started, "How do you think you will fare with the ladies at college? Are you planning on dating a new girl every week?"

At this Simon laughed before responding in a sarcastic tone, "Oh yeah, during my time here I plan on getting to know each and every girl personally, if you know what I mean."

This caused Clary to burst out laughing too before stating in a serious tone, "Okay, but in all seriousness let's promise that if we do start dating someone that we still look out for each other first alright?" Simon's face dropped once he heard her comment, he did not even want to think of her with someone else. Clary picked up on his face dropping, nudged him with her shoulder and asked, "Hey what's wrong? Are you planning on ditching me for some other girl?"

"No that's not it," Simon clarified. "It's just that dating other people was the last thing on my mind you know, you and my music are my two main priorities. Once we move into our off campus apartment tomorrow I was planning on devoting myself to you both." This caused Clary to sigh in relief.

"That's good, I was worried you would be abandoning me for some bimbo. Are you planning on having any live shows in the future, or will I be the only one to have the pleasure of listening to you play your songs?"

"Well to be honest it isn't exactly as simple as it sounds, it is hard to find a venue that will let a solo act like me without a fan base play for them," He explained in an exasperated tone. Was it really too much to ask that he be allowed to play at a local venue?

Wanting to end the conversation and wrap up the night Simon gave Clary and kiss on the forehead before heading to the spare bedroom where he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the soft pillow on his bed.

Simon awoke the next day to the rattling of his alarm which he had hooked up to the radio so it would play different songs every morning to wake him up. This morning his phone was playing one of his favorites "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. Simon couldn't help but laugh at how an unrequited love song was playing, it was like the universe was poking fun at him and his feelings for Clary.

He haphazardly rolled out of bed before making his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Singing in the shower had become a routine for him, because it passed the time and counted toward practicing his vocal range. Today's song happened to be a new one he had just written called Fragile World.

After showering and drying himself off for a few minutes, Simon grabbed a towel wrapped it around his waist and made his way to the door. As he grabbed the door knob and turned it he was surprised to see a familiar redhead on the other side of the door who looked equally surprised to see him. His cheeks started turned crimson red and he floundered around looking for the right words to say. The fact that Clary would be up by now was a complete surprise to him since he usually had to shake her awake on school days. Before either of them could say anything Simon bypassed Clary and hurried into the guest room slamming the door behind him.

Oh God he thought, that was probably the most awkward thing that's happened between them in a while. Trying to push the thoughts about the bathroom incident out of his mind he started to change into a cobalt shirt with a picture of a dalek on it from Doctor Who and a pair of blue jeans.

Thirty minutes later Clary's mom, Jocelyn, and her husband Luke (who was a father figure to me) had arrived with the moving truck so they could take all of their things to their new apartment in one go. While Jocelyn motioned for Clary to come over and talk to her, Luke walked over to me, "So Simon, when are you going to make a move?"

Simon, who was taking a sip of his coffee started to choke on it and had a coughing fit for a few seconds. He figured plausible deniability was his best option, "What do you mean exactly?" He was a rewarded with a 'you know what I'm talking about look.'

"Obviously I wanted to know when you are planning on making your move on Clary! With the two of you away from prying eyes now you'll have plenty of opportunities to test the waters with her."

"No offense Luke, but your advice kind of sucks, we are going to be roommates now. Do you know how awkward it would be if she turned me down and we had to stay in the same apartment together, not to mention what it would do to our friendship," Simon pointed out with a depressing sigh.

"Well you never know until you try, and I guarantee that you have a zero percent chance at dating her if you never tell her how you feel, which is definitely lower than the fifty-fifty chance you have of her saying yes to you," Luke countered with a seemingly strong argument.

"Oh yeah, well maybe you're right but that doesn't mean that I have to listen to you now does it? I can always wait and make a decision later on anyway, what's the rush?" Simon asked in confusion.

"As your elder and as a wise adult let me tell you this, there are thousands of guys for her to choose from. If you don't act fast it could very well be too late." With that he walked way and started to help load the boxes into the truck.

Within an hour they had all of the essentials that they would need packed up and ready to go, so while Jocelyn and Luke were putting stuff into the apartment Simon and Clary made their way to orientation.

Looking back Simon wished that he would have listened to Luke's advice, because things changed very fast once they made it to orientation.


	2. Chapter 2

Simon ignored the lecturer prepared for orientation as she dragged on and on about the school and instead focused on what Luke said. Throughout the orientation he wondered whether or not he should make his move, but every time he talked himself out of the idea. Before he could make a final decision he realized Clary was calling out his name, "Simon, are you okay? You look like you are thinking about something big. Are you wondering if you should change your degree to Accounting, because I told you that it's fine if we aren't in the arts together."

Her words snapped him out of his daze and as he grabbed her hands he promised, "No that wasn't it, and if I do decide on Accounting again I can always double major later, no biggie. I was just lost in thought about something unimportant, don't worry about it." Clary rose an eyebrow in suspicion, but seemed to decide against further questions.

Once the lecturer finally finished she motioned for everyone to follow her out of the auditorium as that was the end of orientation. Simon and Clary took this chance to hurry so they could finally help Luke and Jocelyn with unpacking their things into their new apartment. However, everyone else seemed to be in a rush too as there was a sea of bodies headed towards the exit. The duo was pushed from behind as everyone wanted to leave, when someone pushed so hard that Simon fell of balance and his glasses fell off.

He bent down over where his glasses were to pick them up, but no one else seemed to notice or care as they kept walking until he heard the glasses make a crunch sound. Simon was sure then that they were broken, he had just bought these too! Finally the sea of bodies withered down to a small stream, until almost everyone was outside.

Someone crouched down and grabbed Simon's shoulder as they said, "Tough break, people are always so impatient aren't they?" It was a girls voice so he figured it was Clary and was just about to ask her to give him his spare pair, when another voice called out.

"Simon! I was carried away by all of the people pushing and shoving, I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back here," Clary apologized. Wait a minute he thought in confusion, if Clary was there who was behind him? Simon slowly stood up and felt the arm leave his shoulder as he turned to face the mystery person.

"Wow," the girl started, "I saw you both in the lecture and you both looked nerdy, but without your glasses you look hot." The comment made him blush, but without his glasses he couldn't make out what the girl looked like other than that she was in all black and stood close to his height.

In that moment Clary reached him, pulled his spare pair of glasses out of her bag (which she had always had to do since he broke his glasses all of the time), and pulled his face towards hers before putting the glasses on for him. "So Simon, who is your new friend there," Clary asked in amusement.

"I actually don't know who…" He started as he was turning around to face the girl, when he lost all train of thought. Mystery girl had long, thick, black hair, dark brown eyes, and supermodel looks. Wait, this girl called him hot? Simon's brain was running a mile a minute, but he still could not find anything to say.

The girl took this chance to introduce herself, "Hi there my name is Isabelle Lightwood, would you be so kind to tell me yours?" As she spoke she flashed a stunning smile that threw him for even more of a loop, until Clary stepped in to save him.

"Hi, I'm Clary Fray and this is my best friend Simon Lewis. It is nice to meet you, what are you majoring in?"

Just before Isabelle could reply the exit doors flung open and two guys barged into the room that also looked like models. The taller one with the same features as Isabelle pushed his way past Simon and Clary before making it to Isabelle, "Were these two bothering you?"

He was answered with a small laugh, "No big brother, honestly you are so suffocating sometimes. I was just trying to get to know Clary and Simon." She smirked as she said his name in a way that made Simon's heart stop.

"Oh God no, already? Really?" He responded in annoyance.

"What's the harm anyway?" She replied before turning back to Simon and Clary. "The two people who rudely interrupted our conversation are my brothers Alec and Jace. To answer your question Clary I'm studying Film, Alec's studying Digital Arts, and Jace is studying Media."

Clary took a little too long to respond and Simon realized why, she was staring at the one who must be Jace with heart shaped eyes. Well, he might have been exaggerating, but he knew what that look meant, as he had that very look for Clary.

She seemed embarrassed as she realized Simon and Isabelle had been watching her before stating, "Oh that's cool, all three siblings in the same college at the same time is extremely rare. I'm earning my degree in Art and Simon here is going for Music." At this Isabelle's ears perked up.

"So you're in a band then Simon? Oh and btw my friends call me Izzy so please call me that too."

"Well it's not much of a band at this point, it's a one-man band at the moment. In the future I would like to form a real band, but for now it's just me," Simon uttered in a depressed tone.

"Well are you any good?" Izzy asked curiously as she looked at Simon. If he answered he was then it would seem arrogant and if he said he was bad she would lose interest. What should he tell her? At that moment however, Clary saved him for a second time.

"Trust me he is. He writes his own music, sings, plays the keyboard and the guitar. While the band is just him, it is actually pretty good," Clary responded excitedly. Her comments made Simon blush again, which he always did whenever Clary complimented him.

"This is fun and all, but I could care less about this Simon guy so I'm going to go," Jace bluntly said. "Are you guys leaving with me, or should I head back on my own?" Well, Simon thought, he seems like a typical ass-hat, surprise surprise. Alec followed him out of the doors without a word and then it was just the three of them.

"I am so sorry about them, they are just overprotective about me since I am the only girl in the family. Don't take what they said the wrong way, they didn't mean anything bad. Here give me your phone." Simon reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and handed it to her. She typed on his phone for a little while and then he heard another phone go off. "There all done, I sent a text to my phone from yours. I really have to go, but I'll talk to you two later. Oh and text me Clary's number too, thanks." With that she made her way out and it was just the duo left.

"Well, that was an interesting surprise," Clary mumbled.

"Yeah, you were practically drooling over Jace," Simon mocked. "Falling for a jackass like that, really Fray, I thought I knew you better."

"Like you're one to talk," Clary countered. "As soon as you had your glasses back on and saw Izzy you turned into a tongue-tied idiot. Twice I had to step in and say something for you!"

Her words rang true causing Simon to pause. He was the exact same way with Izzy as she was with Jace. "Let's just head to the apartment and forget that this ever happened," He reasoned.

"That sounds good to me," Clary concurred. "It's not like we will see them again anyway just because we are all getting a degree in the Arts, this college is huge." Simon nodded in agreement, but little did the two know they couldn't be more wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

There was just one small problem in Simon's thinking, and that was general education classes. At this moment though, he nor Clary had any clue they were wrong

Simon and Clary arrived at the apartment later than originally planned due to their run in with Isabelle. Which, did not go unnoticed by Jocelyn as they arrived. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"I'm sorry mom, we were held up a little after orientation, but we came with gifts," Clary added for good measure. They had bought coffee on their way over so they would be forgiven for being late.

Jocelyn gave in after a few seconds and reached for the coffee, "Fine, but you better help us now. No backing out."

At that moment Luke walked into the room and queried, "So how was orientation?" Which was the wrong question to ask. Simon and Clary looked at each other and started turning as red as tomatoes. Luke picked up on this and asked, "So, something happened then?"

"NO!" They responded in unison, which made it clear to Luke and Jocelyn that something did in fact happen.

"I know, let's get to work," Simon suggested in order to end the topic. Luke and Jocelyn exchanges glances before nodding in agreement.

Luke called for Simon to join him in Simon's bedroom. Once they were both inside Luke closed the door behind them and then slapped Simon on the shoulder, "So, you told her how you feel then I presume?"

Simon wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?" Why was Luke asking him this? He already told him that he was going to wait.

"Oh come on, there is no point in playing dumb with me. I saw the way you two were blushing at each other back there," Luke entreated.

"Oh, that was about something else that happened back at campus," Simon clarified with a sigh.

At this Luke's smile dropped into a look of concern before apologizing, "My bad, from the way it looked I thought that you might have finally made a move." The conversation continued for a little while, but Simon was only paying attention.

After a few more hours of unpacking Luke and Jocelyn left and Simon and Clary were left alone in their new apartment. "Hey Lewis, what is out first class again?" Clary asked while Simon was writing a song on his laptop.

"Hold on, let me check. Oh, that reminds me I forgot to print out our schedules," Simon realized. He walked to the printer and after a few minutes had both of their schedules. He handed Clary her schedule, "Um, our first class is Art History. That's a general elective if I am remembering correctly."

"Wait you said it's a general elective?" Clary asked in an abnormally curious tone.

"Yeah, so what? We all have to take it at some point or another."

"No that's not what I meant. I meant that people outside of our major will be in there right?" She explained.

"Yeah, obviously…" Simon started. "Oh. Ooooo. You are saying that we might see them is that it?"

"Exactly, you and your new lady friend might have some gen eds together," Clary teased.

Simon shrugged before questioning, "So this has nothing to do with you hoping to see a certain blond boy?" Seeing Clary's startled expression, he knew he was right on the mark. "That's what I thought Fray, you are already crushing on him."

He was rewarded with a soft punch in the shoulder, "I was just surprised when I saw him, that's all. We both know you are my number one Simon." His face lit up when he heard her say those words, even if she did not mean them the way he wanted her to.

* * *

Isabelle was seated at the kitchen table snacking, watching reality TV, which to be honest, was her favorite type of tv. There was something about the drama that made the shows so interesting that she could not pull herself away from the TV. She was so engrossed in the show that she did not even hear Jace walk into the room.

"So, you made some new friends?" Jace asked in a seemingly uninterested tone.

"Why yes, I did," Isabelle responded with a smile on her face. Today had been an interesting surprise for her. While Simon was not exactly her type at the moment, with the right makeover he could fit the bill. "So how do you feel about Clary?"

"Excuse me?" Jace asked as he searched the fridge until he found a mango to eat.

"Oh come on Jace, you saw the way she was looking at you all starstruck. Don't lie, that's why you brought it up in the first place right? You are interested in her, or am I wrong?"

Jace choked on the mango he was eating, "Now why would I be interested in her? I have seen children taller than her. Anyway, what was with you and the geek anyway? I mean he was practically drooling over you and if I did not know any better you were not exactly restraining yourself either."

"What? I happen to think it would be fun to corrupt a nice guy for once. We both know it will not last long anyway," She replied with a smirk.

"They never do," Jace responded judgmentally.

"Yeah, like you are one to talk," Isabelle countered in annoyance. Jace put his hand under his chin and made a thoughtful expression. After a few moments she could see the light bulb click on above his head.

"Okay then, how about we drop this and make sure not to mention it to Alec," Jace reasoned.

"Make sure not to mention what to me?" Alec cut in as he walked into the kitchen.

"Nothing!" Isabelle and Jace responded at the same time. Isabelle could tell that Alec's suspicions were raised, but he still had no idea what they were talking about. Before Alec could ask what they were talking about again, Isabelle turned off the TV and went towards her bedroom.

She pushed the door open, which was a lot of work due to how many clothes were littered across the floor, to enter her room and then hopped on the bed.

Isabelle leaned over to grab her phone off of her nightstand and saw that there were no new messages. That was a surprise for her, usually within hours or sometimes even minutes after handing out her number a guy texted her back, but Simon had not. She could not bring herself to believe that Simon and Clary were dating. It was obvious to her that Simon had feelings for the redhead from the way he looked at her, but he was enchanted by my looks and the same for Clary with Jace. So she was pretty sure they were not dating, which meant that it had to be an unrequited love right? As she continued to think about Simon she grew more and more interested.

* * *

"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" Simon exclaimed in Clary's ear as he shook her awake. Today was going to be their first official day as University students, so he had woken up early to make celebratory breakfast.

"Ugh," Clary moaned as she stirred awake.

"Aw that's my best friend, who drools and snores in her sleep," Simon joked which earned him a death glare. "Uh, just kidding?"

"That's right Lewis, you better have been joking," Clary growled. "Now, where is my food?" This caused Simon to laugh before heading back into the kitchen. Within ten minutes Clary was in the kitchen dressed and ready for school.

The pair made it to class early so they could make sure they were sitting next to each other. They were the first two there, so they ended up being able to pick the seats in the far back by the window. Simon was just about to start talking to Clary when the worst possible outcome happened. Isabelle, Alec, and Jace all walked into the room. Clary still had not noticed them, so Simon tried to keep her attention off them. That did not work for long however, as he heard Isabelle call out their names before taking a seat next to them. "Wow guys, who knew we would all have this class?" Isabelle stated in disbelief. "How lucky are we?"

"Yeah, lucky," Simon responded in a somber tone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the support of the story so far, I hope you all continue to enjoy the story. Also let me know whether I should post more often or just increase the length of the chapters. I have summer break in two weeks, so I'll have more time on my hands for writing stories. **

* * *

Great, just great, Simon thought in agony. It only took Clary a few moments to become smitten by Jace at orientation, and now the two were going to be in the same class every week.

"So Simon, there's going to be this party at one of the fraternity's tonight to welcome everyone to school. Are you interested in coming with me?" Isabelle asked lightly.

Simon turned his head to respond, but before he could speak Clary interjected, "Will all three of you be at the party?" Isabelle was not dense, so she understood Clary's real question.

"Yes, all three of us will be at the party," Isabelle replied with a smirk.

"Alright, then we will both go, right Simon?" Clary exclaimed with a smile on her face. Simon did not want any part of the party, but where Clary went so did he. Simon nodded his head, to afraid his voice would waver if he responded. "Great, just send us the details and we will be there!"

"I am glad to see the best friends will be making it," Isabelle answered in amusement while emphasizing the word friends. Yep, Simon thought to himself, his feelings are so obvious that even Izzy can see them yet Clary is still utterly clueless.

The rest of the day Simon could only think about Clary. No matter what, he needed to confess his feelings tonight. If he could not muster up the courage today, then he never would.

After class was over he told Clary that he had somewhere to be and told her he would meet her at the party. He then pulled out his phone and called the one person who could help him.

An hour later he was waiting outside the hair salon for the only person that could help him. He noticed her right away whenever she came into view. She was the female version of himself, Maia Roberts, also she was his only ex-girlfriend. When Maia saw Simon she started running and once they met pulled him into a bear hug. "So Simon, are you sure that this is what you want to do?" Maia asked in a kind-hearted tone.

Simon hesitated for a few moments before answering, "Yes, this is the only thing I can think of that might make Clary see me in a new light."

Maia smiled at him as she played with his shaggy hair, "Alright, then it's time for a makeover Simon Lewis."

Maia talked with the hair stylist about styling ideas that went right over Simon's head. Twenty minutes later he had freshly cut hair gelled to the right side of his head. Simon had was not sure whether it looked good or not, but Maia saw his uncertainty and gave him a thumbs up. "Now that that's done our next stop is the eye doctor," Maia stated in a cheerful tone.

The trip to the eye doctor did not take long, and before long Simon was now wearing a pair of contacts instead of his usual glasses. "Wow Simon, without your glasses your eyes look so much bigger and brighter. You look really good," Maia praised.

"T-thanks for the compliment," Simon stuttered. He felt his face turning red. Simon then composed himself before starting, "Um, Maia about.."

She cut him off before he could finish, "It's okay Simon, I know why we broke up. Even though you like me, you love her. I'm fine now, we work best as friends anyway."

"You know what you are a really cool person Maia," Simon acknowledged.

"Yeah I am, now come on we are not finished yet," Maia replied as she pulled him to their final destination, the mall. Maia had told him that she would take care of his outfit, so he waited outside the store. One look at his phone told him that he needed to hurry, it was already almost nine and the party started at ten. He could probably make it in time if he was by himself, but he had to Maia home, and she was still picking out his clothes.

Simon was lost in thought, when a group of girls walked up to him. Simon figured they were lost and was just about to ask if they needed directions, when the girl in the middle started talking, "Um could I have your phone number?" Simon was completely blindsided. The girl looked like she could be a real life barbie doll, and she wanted his number? What in the world was happening? Was this all a prank, that involves hidden cameras?

Before he could come up with a reply, he was saved by Maia. "I'm sorry," She interjected as she grabbed his arm, "Simon here happens to be my boyfriend, he was waiting out here for me so I could pick out clothes as a gift for him."

"Oh, sorry my bad!" The girl exclaimed as she and her friends ran away.

"What happened?" Simon asked in confusion.

"That was your new look. A lot of girls just notice that you are nerdy so they don't see how attractive you are, but things have changed now since you had a makeover. Now, change into these clothes and finish your look.

Simon took the bag of clothes and went into a changing room. As he pulled out the clothes he saw that Maia had bought a pair of expensive looking blue jeans and a maroon dress shirt.

A few minutes later he came back to where Maia was waiting for him and she smiled as she said, "Now you look like a lady killer, good luck tonight." This caused Simon to smile. Tonight was the night that things would change.

By the time Simon drove Maia home and arrived at the party it was eleven. Well, Simon thought, I'm sure Clary was fine for an hour without me.

Isabelle was surprised when Clary came to the party by herself. "Where's Simon?" Isabelle asked in confusion."

Clary smiled and shrugged, "I don't know, he said he had something to do when classes got out. He did however promise to meet me here, which is good because this is not my scene and I could use a friend."

Isabelle laughed and slung her arm around Clary's shoulder, "We are friends now too aren't we?"

"Yeah, but having Simon around makes me relax and feel more comfortable," Clary explained.

"You know, Simon could be really popular with the ladies if he put in a little effort," Isabelle informed Clary.

"What do you mean by that?" Clary questioned.

"Are you playing dumb or are you just clueless?" Isabelle asked. Clary's raised her eyebrow in confusion. Man, Isabelle thought, is this girl dumb? "Look what I'm saying is that if Simon stopped with the whole nerd persona and had a makeover he would be very good looking."

"Really? I never really thought about the way Simon looks. However, I want someone to like Simon for who he is, he shouldn't have to change for girls to like him," Clary remarked.

"Well, what about you? Have you ever thought about Simon as more than a friend? Is he someone that you can see yourself dating?" Isabelle queried.

"Dating Simon? I don't know he's like family to me, like a brother. It would be weird if we tried to be more than just friends," Clary clarified.

There was a large crashing sound that caused Isabelle to turn around, someone had bumped into the coffee table and knocked a vase onto the ground. She realized that the guy looked familiar, and then she realized that it was Simon. Before Isabelle could say anything he ran to the front of the house and out the door.

"Are you sure that he feels the same way?" Isabelle hinted as she ran after Simon.

She could see him a few blocks ahead of her. "Simon wait!" She called out as she ran to catch up with him. He turned around as he heard her voice. Isabelle could see the tears welling up in his eyes as she came closer to him. "Follow me, we're going to get drunk."

Isabelle bought a few thirty packs and then took Simon back to her apartment. She walked over to the couch and set the beer down on the coffee table and motioned for Simon to follow her. Then, Isabelle cracked open a beer and said, "Look Simon, there are other girls besides Clary in the world. Besides, right now you look like a player. I bet you could walk up to most girls and get their number."

"I don't want any other girls, I just want Clary," Simon mumbled.

Simon reached for a beer and snapped it open before chugging it. Once he was done with that beer he grabbed another, then another, and soon enough Simon blacked out.

Simon woke due to the sun shining on his face. His head was pounding like crazy, he was definitely hung over. Simon slowly sat up and pulled the covers off of him and almost screamed in surprise. These were not his bed sheets. As he looked around he realized he wasn't in his room, and instead it was a girls room. Simon heard a moan to his left and realized he wasn't the only one in bed, there was a girl sleeping on the left side of the bed. He screamed as he realized it was Isabelle. Wait, why was he only wearing his underwear? What the hell happened last night? He remembered the party and then he hung out with Isabelle and then blank.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wow," Isabelle started groggily, "I find it very demeaning that you woke up beside me and started screaming right away."

"What? When? How?" Simon hurriedly asked.

"Really Simon, am I that unforgettable in bed?" Isabelle asked with a pouting expression.

"WHAT?!" Simon screamed as he started blushing like crazy. "No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening, I cannot have lost my…" Simon cut himself off before finishing the sentence that would only humiliate him.

This caused Isabelle to laugh before answering, "Oh, so I had the pleasure of taking the virginity of Simon Lewis?" Simon's mind was racing and he was unable to come up with a response. There was no way in hell he was going to forget his first time, and it was supposed to be with Clary nonetheless, not some girl he barely knew.

Isabelle seemed to take pity on him, because she pulled the covers off of her showing Simon that she was in fact fully clothed. "If you are worried that we took part in "extracurricular activities," then don't be I was just joking. I promise that absolutely nothing like what you are thinking happened."

Simon looked down at himself again before replying, "Then why am I…? And how did we…? And what did we…?"

Isabelle gave Simon a run down of what happened last night. Apparently he was really wasted, which was believable, and told Isabelle all about how he met Clary. Then he started taking off his clothes and slid into her bed and said he wouldn't fall asleep unless she was there with him.

"Oh god," Simon whispered as he realized what he had done. I am so sorry, I should go now." He started making his way around the room to pick up his clothes. Once he was fully clothed he headed towards the door and turned as he said, "Uh, thanks for taking care of me. I am very sorry about everything, I'll see you later." With that Simon turned back to the door and turned the door knob. When he opened the door he saw a familiar face on the other side, Alec.

Alec raised his eyebrow in confusion as he tried to comprehend what was going on. Then Simon realized what he would come to believe was happening so he started, "No, this isn't what it looks like."

Isabelle interjected, "Don't worry, nothing happened. He just needed a friend, Simon why don't you leave so I can sort things out with my brother?"

Simon nodded his thanks and then made his way out of the apartment. As he looked down at his phone he noticed that he was going to be late for his first class if he didn't hurry.

"So you conquered another one already?" Alec asked in a disapproving tone.

Isabelle rolled her eyes as she responded, "I don't see why it's any of your business what happened but no, he really did just need a friend."

Alec gave her a confused look, "But I thought he was your next target? Why didn't you take the chance when it was right in front of you?"

"I don't know, I am asking myself the same question. He was drunk out of his mind, if I started to make a move on him he wouldn't have been able to resist, but it just felt wrong. He was crying while telling me about him and Clary and it just felt wrong. I didn't want to take advantage of someone so innocent and docile." Isabelle answered.

"So does that mean you are going to stop then?" Alec asked curiously.

"No, now I am more interested in doing this than ever. However I want it to be a mutual thing, I want him to choose me, I don't want him to chalk it up as a drunken mistake. Then once I am done with him, I'll move onto the next guy," Isabelle clarified.

"What a succubus you are little sister," Alec replied in a disgruntled tone.

"Simon!" Clary exclaimed when he walked entered their apartment. "Where were you all night? I tried calling and texting you all night, but you never responded!"

"Oh, my phone must have died," Simon lied. "My bad, and don't worry I was with a friend. Anyways we need to hurry, so why don't we talk later?"

Clary looked displeased, but she nodded her head in agreement. Simon then made his way to his room. Now that he thought about it, where was his phone anyway? The last time he remembered having it on him was the party. Did he drop it there? Well whatever, he thought, I can always buy a new phone.

Twenty minutes later he was ready to go. He had showered, changed, and ate breakfast. "Wow Simon, I couldn't tell earlier, but you got a full on makeover." Clary noted.

"Yeah Maia helped me out yesterday," Simon explained. "So, how does it look?"

"You look like great! Ladies watch out!" Clary praised him. This caused Simon to smile, maybe there was still hope they could be more than friends one day.

The two realized they were in a rush, so they made their way to school. By the time they arrived at class they were very late and multiple heads turned around as they heard the door open.

At the end of class the two of them were just about to leave, when Isabelle came rushing over. "Hey guys!" She exclaimed. Then she reached into her bag for something and as Simon watched he realized it was his phone, "Here you go Simon, you left this at my place when you left this morning…" Isabelle seemed to realize her mistake as she looked at Clary most likely realizing that she should not have said that.

"Wait," Clary started. "So the friend who you stayed with was Izzy?" Clary gave him a disappointed look, "Why did you lie to me? You could have told me you the truth."

"I was telling you the truth. Izzy was just being a friend to me, nothing happened!" Simon assured her.

"I don't understand why you find the need to lie to me. It's fine if you went and slept with her, she is your ideal type isn't she?" Clary replied.

"Okay it's very presumptuous and demeaning of you to just assume that Simon and I would just have sex with someone we just recently met. You should believe in your best friend," Isabelle scolded.

Clary put her hands up, "Alright, I believe you. Simon's never really been too interested in girls, so it was pretty hard to believe anyway."

After school Isabelle asked Clary to stop by her apartment so that the two of them could have a talk. "This apartment looks amazing," Clary chirped.

"Thanks, but I asked you to come here for a different reason," Isabelle clarified. Clary turned her full attention to Isabelle, so she continued. "I need to know for sure if you ever have or will look at Simon as more than a friend."

Clary gave her a puzzled expression, "Izzy, I thought I already told you how I felt."

"All I am asking for is the truth. So you are saying that there has never even been once instance where you saw him as more than a friend? Not even now that he changed his style?" Isabelle questioned.

Clary was silent for a few moments before she answered, "Not that I can recall, he's always just been more of a brother. Why do you keep asking anyway?"

"Because, I am going after him and I just wanted to know if I had any competition," Isabelle bluntly stated.

"By going after you mean pursuing romantically?" Clary asked.

"Yes," Isabelle clarified. "I will make him mine soon enough, but first I wanted to know if you had any feelings for him. However you said you have no such feelings, which means I have nothing to worry about right?"

"R-right," Clary responded.

When Clary arrived at the apartment Simon was sitting on the couch playing video games. Now that she really took the time to look at him she Izzy was right, he was a knockout. Clary watched Simon smile from ear to ear as he was playing and felt her heart flutter. No, Clary thought, Izzy is getting in my head, Simon and I are not like that.

But why were they both so flustered when Clary ran into him coming out of the shower a few days ago? Anyways he has feelings for Isabelle right? She told Clary herself she's going after him too. But why did he leave the party last night like that? Clary remembered Izzy asking her how she felt about Simon and then…. No, that couldn't be why he left right? There's no way Simon feels that way.

Before Clary knew it Simon had paused his game, "Clary is everything alright? You are staring at me, is there something on my face?"

Clary started to blush before responding, "N-no. I was just lost in thought that's all." Clary walked into her own room and shut herself in for the rest of the night. Clary was sure she liked Jace, so why was she wondering about Simon like this? Everything was too much to process for her brain, so she decided to turn in before her brain caught on fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Is anyone else upset that the TV show it ending on Monday? I think we can all agree though that it does not do the show justice, especially with SIzzy. In the show we hardly get an Sizzy compared to the books. This really upset me since Simon and Izzy are my two favorite characters.

Anyways I have a question for you all, should I have Simon and Clary start a relationship for a little while, or should I move straight into Sizzy? I look forward to your opinions.

I am sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the usual ones, but summer starts in less than a week so I will be updating more frequently very soon to make up for the shorter chapter.

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Simon had felt bad for all of the problems he had caused Izzy, so he asked if he could hang out with her over the weekend, which she agreed to. Simon knocked on Izzy's apartment door and was rewarded with Jace opening the front door. "Sorry, we didn't order any pizza," He said as he tried to close the door, but before he could Simon wedged his foot into the door.

"Haha very funny, now will you let me in?" Simon asked in an annoyed tone.

"Why would I let the pizza guy in when I didn't order any pizza," Jace asked in a confused tone.

Simon sighed before starting, "It's me, Simon, from orientation. We are in the same morning class, remember? I am here because Izzy and I are supposed to hang out today."

"Huh, you do look kind of familiar now that I think about it. Are you sure you aren't a pizza delivery guy?"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST LET ME IN!" Simon yelled exasperated.

Before Jace could respond Izzy appeared in the doorway, "Jace what are you doing? Let him in!" Izzy exclaimed. He reluctantly moved out of the way and let Simon through. "I am sorry about him, he is way too overprotective."

"Its whatever, he just pissed me off," Simon replied.

"Yeah, he has a bad habit of doing that to people," Izzy explained with a laugh. "Just give me a few more minutes to get ready okay?"

"Sure thing, I'll just go sit in the living room and wait." She nodded in agreement as she made her way to her room. When he made it into the living room he saw Jace sitting on the couch and Simon realized he had already forgotten that Jace was still here. Simon then took a seat on the recliner, because it was the farthest place to sit away from where Jace was.

Jace didn't seem to understand why Simon sat as far away as possible, because he started making conversation, "So you really weren't a pizza guy?"

"NO! I have not and will never be a pizza guy!" Simon clarified.

"Oh, my bad then." Jace stated. "So you are going on a date with Izzy I take it?"

His question caught Simon off guard, "W-what? A date? No, we are just going to hang out as friends. She helped me out earlier on this week, so I am trying to return the favor."

"So you aren't interested in her in a romantic way?" Jace asked.

"Huh? No not really, I mean she is really attractive and all but…" Simon started.

"But you are in love with someone else already," Jace interjected. "Am I wrong?"

"What? How did you know that?" Simon asked in disbelief.

"It was written all over your face back at orientation. I couldn't quite place you at first because you are dressed completely differently, but back then when you were looking at the red-headed girl I could tell. Its her isn't it? The girl you are in love with."

Before Simon could respond Isabelle came into the room and grabbed his arm, "Let's go Simon!"

"Oh, sure thing." He responded as she pulled him out of the apartment with her.

Simon led Izzy to an outlet mall because she seemed like the type of girl who would love shopping. "Okay, I'll buy you something from the store of your choosing."

"Really?" Izzy asked in an overly excited tone. "So how about that car over there?" She pointed as she said that, so Simon turned to where she was pointing. There was a camaro on display in the center of the mall that was just a little out of the price range he was thinking.

"I believe I did say anything that was in a store, and that," he pointed out. "Is not in any of the stores."

Izzy gave him a sarcastic pouty expression, "But I was so hoping for that...Do you care if we look around for awhile so I can figure out what I want?"

"Sure thing, that is fine with me," Simon responded. The two looked around the stores for a while until his stomach started grumbling. "Are you okay with stopping to grab a bite to eat at the food court?"

"That sounds good to me, I am practically starving as well. What are you planning on eating?" Izzy asked.

"Are you kidding? We are in New York, of course I am going to eat pizza!" Simon exclaimed.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Isabelle said in an amused tone.

On their way to the food court Simon saw an elderly lady that looked lost, so he made his way over to her, "Hello miss you look like you are lost, do you need any help?"

"Oh, would you be so kind as to show me where the food court is? My grand kids are waiting for me, but I cannot tell right from left in this place." The lady stated.

"Sure thing, the two of us are actually on our way over to the food court as well. We can show you how to get there," Simon responded. The lady's face lit up and she gave him a smile that warmed his heart. Soon enough they were at the food court so Simon asked, "Do you know where your family is?"

"Let me see," She answered as she looked around for her grand kids. "I see them, they are over there near the restrooms. Anyways dear please take good care of your boyfriend, he's a keeper."

"Oh she's not my.." Simon started, but the lady had already walked away.

"What a gentleman you are, my boyfriend," Isabelle laughed as she said the last part of the sentence.

Simon's cheeks flushed slightly, "That's not funny!"

"Oh what's the harm? It didn't bother me that she mistook us for a couple."

"Well it bothered me!" Simon explained.

"Why did it bother you Simon?" Isabelle asked in an amused tone, "Am I not good enough for you?"

"That's not it and you know it!" Simon clarified. "You are way out of my league anyway."

"What makes you think that we are in different "leagues" as you put it? You are basically saying that you are giving up before you even try," Isabelle protested as the smile fell from her face.

"It's true though, you could be a supermodel and I am just a nobody," Simon pointed out.

"No, it's not Simon. I told you before that you are good looking, you just don't realize it," Isabelle counseled. "Your superfluous self-doubt is starting to become annoying. Listen to me when I say this, I would date you."

"Wait what? For real? You are not joking right now?" Simon questioned.

"I am being completely serious right now Simon," Isabelle clarified. Then she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Well if we were dating, you wouldn't keep your chastity for very long."

Simon took a few steps back as he tried to process what she said. "Uh I need to go...use the restroom. Yeah, that! I'll be right back," Simon claimed as he made a quick break for the bathroom.

"Wow I just wanted to tease him a little bit, I didn't think he would be so flustered," Isabelle thought out loud as she started to laugh. Isabelle was sure now that this was going to be fun for her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Good news, I finished all of my finals now! Hopefully that means I will be updating around twice a week now. **

**A side note is that I made a twitter account called therealcolla and that is going to be for discussions about any of my stories. If anyone wants to talk to me about ideas that they have or anything regarding the story they can just send me a message on there or write a review. Thanks again to the readers. **

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Simon was in the bathroom stall wondering what the hell was going on with Izzy. Was she flirting with him, or just teasing him? Clary had always been the one on Simon's mind, but Izzy came out of nowhere and started getting inside of his head. It didn't help any that she looked like a supermodel. Simon came to a realization, the only way that he was going to solve this was by convincing Izzy to stop flirting or teasing him or whatever it was she was doing. He left the stall, washed his hands, and then washed off his face for good measure before making his way back to his table at the food court. "Izzy," Simon started.

"Yes, Simon?" She asked.

"I am going to need you to stop with doing whatever you are trying to do, because it is messing with my head," Simon explained.

At that moment Izzy reached across the table and started moving her finger in circles on Simon's hands. Then she gave him a mischievous smile and queried, "Now what could you be talking about?"

Simon instinctively pulled his hand back before answering, "That! Stop doing that!"

"I wasn't even doing anything though," Isabelle pouted.

"I am not kidding, stop doing that. That is not something that friends do. I don't know if you are just messing with me or if you are actually interested in me, but my feelings are solely for Clary."

"Is that so? You wouldn't mind proving to me that you have no feelings then would you?" Isabelle goaded.

Simon was caught off guard and froze up. After a few moments he regained his composure before replying, "I don't know what you have up your sleeve, but fine I'll bite. I will prove to you that I see you as just a friend and you will in turn leave me alone right?"

"Sure thing," Isabelle answered. "If you pass my test then I will stop."

"Okay, so what do I need to do?" Simon worriedly inquired.

"All you have to do is close your eyes for me," Isabelle informed him.

Simon hesitated, then after a few deep breaths closed his eyes. He was ready for whatever she would throw at him. A few seconds pass and then Simon felt something warm encompassing his lips, he was just about to open his eyes to find out what was happening when Isabelle chided him, "That won't do, you promised to keep your eyes remember?" Simon nodded his head in response.

What was he feeling though? It felt so warm and soft and nice. Then he felt something grab him from both sides of his face and pull him in. He then realized what had to be happening, she was kissing him wasn't she? But what should he do? Simon knew he should pull away but it felt so good. His mind was going blank as he was drowning himself in the kiss. Simon finally regained his senses, opened his eyes, and pulled away from Izzy. "What was that?!"

"Why do you sound so upset?" Isabelle teased. "You could have pulled away at any time. I wasn't forcing you to stay for as long as you did."

"That's not funny, for the last time Clary is the one that I like!" Simon yelled in anger.

"Really now, is that true? Think long and hard about what your feelings for Clary actually are and then let me know," Isabelle advised him. She then told him she was going to a taxi home and said goodbye.

What the hell was going on? One thing was clear however and that was that he needed to have a talk with Clary. He needed to sort out his feelings and fast.

Simon arrived at the apartment and found Clary in the living room. "Hey Clary, we need to talk." Simon said nervously.

Clary gave him an awkward smile in return as she replied, "I was thinking the same thing myself actually. You first?"

"Um okay, this is going to be a little hard for me to say. We have known each other since kindergarten right? When I met you my whole world was turned upside down, but in a good way. I have always wanted to tell you this but I could never find the right time, I am in love with you," Simon ranted.

Clary looked taken aback and started, "Okay…"

Simon cut her off before she could continue, "Now all I ask is if we can kiss once. I know it is a weird thing to ask of you, but I really need to be sure. That is only if you are okay with it and all. It is a very weird question and I brought it up out of nowhere and…"

This time Clary cut him off, "Okay."

"Oh good..wait what did you say? Did you say you were okay with it?" Simon asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I have been confused about my feelings towards you as well and this would definitely clear things up," Clary explained. Simon was too shell-shocked to answer so he simply closed the distance between himself and Clary. "Well here we go Simon." With that she leaned her face into his until they were kissing. Simon noticed immediately that it was awkward and there was no spark when he kissed her like there was with Izzy.

Simon pulled away after a few more seconds. "Yeah…" Simon stated in disappointment.

"That pretty much sums it up," Clary answered in agreement. "I am pretty sure we fit as best friends only. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Yeah to be honest I always thought that kissing you would be amazing, but that just felt wrong. I guess we just love each other, but we are not in love with each other."

"But that's not wrong or anything," Clary clarified. "Not to change the subject or anything but why were you at the mall so long anyway?"

"No reason!" Simon answered a little too quickly.

Clary raised her eyebrow and questioned him, "Someone seems a little suspicious. What were you two doing?"

"N-nothing I swear!" Simon exclaimed as he made a break for his room. That was too close, Clary did not need to know about what happened at the mall.

Isabelle made it back to her apartment and found that both Alec and Jace were inside. "What are you guys doing? You have your own place don't you?"

"Well that's a very rude thing to say your guests," Jace countered.

"You two are not guests. Guests are invited in, they don't just show up whenever they want," Isabelle pointed out.

"Fair point, how was your date with the nerd?" Jace asked.

"I'm definitely making progress. I'd say that he is probably think about me right now. I am sure that I put seeds of doubt into his mind about his feelings for Clary," Isabelle assured them.

"What makes you think that?" Alec cut in.

"Well I started making out with him and he didn't pull away for a long while. If he really loved her would he let that continue?" Isabelle questioned.

"Or you know he was just in shock and couldn't process what was going on," Jace argued.

"Oh shut up, there's no way I could be wrong about this. Back me up Alec."

"I'm sorry but I have to agree with Jace, if someone did that to me out of nowhere I would probably freeze up too," Alec reasoned. "Everyone reacts to things in their own way so I can't be sure, but it's fairly likely. Anyways if he really did like you why would he pull away then?"

"He's in denial," Isabelle suggested. "Watch, you'll see soon enough that I am right."

Simon came out of his room and sat beside Clary on the couch, "I have something to tell you and I don't want you to get angry."

Clary looked over at him and gave him her full attention, "Okay, what is it?"

"Well while we were at the mall Izzy started making out with me," Simon confessed.

"So you made out with her and then came home and asked to kiss me too? What a player," Clary said.

"That's why I came home and asked you if we could kiss, she got in my head," Simon explained.

"So what you are trying to say is that you might have feelings for her? Is that right?" Clary asked.

"To be honest yes, I mean you have seen her. Izzy is just wow. On top of all of that she was teasing me the whole time we were hanging out, it's obvious how she got in my head," Simon realized.

"Well it's fine with me if you start dating her, we already agreed we wouldn't let dating getting in the way of our friendship," Clary assured him.

"Dating?" Simon questioned. "I doubt that would ever happen, but I appreciate you being cool with my feelings for her and all. Okay, now let's pop in some Harry Potter movies, we haven't watched them in at least a year now."

"Sure thing boss man," Clary responded. Yes this was the dynamic that he and Clary were meant to have, best friends.


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: This chapter was a special extra chapter to thank the readers for their support on the story. I will still be posting another two chapters this week. Sorry that this chapter seems longer than it is, most of it is me rambling before the story actually starts. **

**Side note: One thing I have noticed while reading other stories on here is that it is fairly common to showcase the reviews. Here is my first time posting reviews and then leaving notes on them that I hope help the readers. **

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**Bastille Club, April 10th: Thanks! I really enjoy this first chapters. It's not very common for authors to choose Simon's POV and I think is a great idea to get into his head. Please keep writing.**

**collasoll: I appreciate the support, thanks for the first comment. Simon is my favorite character and I feel like he has a major role in the books, so I like telling his point of view. It is nice to meet a fellow Simon fan. **

**Bastille's Club, April 14th: Thanks! Nice job. Cannot wait to read more and see where you are taking this.**

**collasoll: Thanks again for another comment! As I recently mentioned I will be trying to update on a twice a week basis whenever I can. I hope that 3,000 words or so a week is enough. **

**CarissaCampbell, May 6th: ****I think Clary should realize she was just getting confused by all the changes and Isabelle being so persistent. And Simon should realize that he doesn't really love Clary the way he thinks he does.**

**collasoll: Thank you for reading my question and giving me feedback. In the books I was a fan of Climon because Simon needed to get over her somehow and the only way he was able to do that was by realizing his feelings after dating her. Due to this I was wondering if the readers would also like to see that, or if I should just skip that pairing all together and go to Sizzy instead. I ended up deciding though that skipping the Climon pairing would be for the best.**

**Guest, May 11th: I don't like Isabelle**

**collasoll: I appreciate that you care enough about the story to feel that way about a character in it. I am writing her how I feel she was in the books, we just didn't hear her point of view much in the books before she started to change once she really fell for Simon. Before she falls for him though she acts very similar to this, so I wanted to stay true to the character. **

**kaciegayle, May** **11th: Izzy's about to break him. She thinks it's all fun and games now but doesn't think of the consequences and with Simon it could be really bad. I really strongly dislike her right now.**

**collasoll: You should dislike her at this point, I am glad that you do. She needs to change and have a character arc and I want it to be easily shown how she changes after really getting to know Simon. **

**Sizzystan, May 12th: Just discovered your fanfic and I love it!... So Simon will not come together with clary but bond immediately with izzy - great :)... But i have to say that izzy seems a bit like a bitch. Hopefully she will fall head over heels for Simon and realize how shitty it is that she only wants some fun with him. Can't wait for the next chapter!**

**collasoll: I am glad that you can see where I am trying to go with the story, don't worry I am also a Sizzy fan. I do not want to ruin the pairing, I simply want to make the pairing more realistic and to develop over time. **

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**Okay so that was my feedback for your comments, in the future I will be leaving notes as soon as I get reviews on my new chapters. I hope this cleared up some of your confusion or convinced you to keep reading. Thanks again, now let's hop into another chapter. **

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Simon heard hastened footsteps approaching him so he turned around. Simon smiled as he saw that the footsteps belonged to a familiar red-head. "What's up Clary? Or are you just that excited to see me?"

"Very funny Simon," Clary replied as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I have big news!" Clary's whole face was lit up and she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Okay you have my attention," Simon stated curiously.

"Well you know how you have been looking for gigs?" Clary asked. Simon nodded his head, so Clary continued, "Well, I happened to find you a gig!"

"Wait what?" Simon questioned in disbelief. "Am I hearing things or did you just say that you got me a gig?" He had always wanted to play a gig, but no venue would ever even give him a chance.

"Well this upperclassman, named Magnus Bane, is in one of my classes and he happens to work at this coffee shop called Java Jones. Apparently his boss was looking for live entertainment so I mentioned you and now you have a gig this Friday!" Clary explained. "The best part is they will pay you too!"

Simon wrapped his arms around Clary and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank you so much Fray!"

"Anything for the Robin to my Batman," Clary replied.

Simon frowned before correcting her, "You mean the Batman to your Robin, right?"

Clary smirked as she answered, "Yeah keep dreaming." Simon laughed and gave her a playful nudge. "Anyways back the subject at hand, is there anyone you want to invite to the gig?"

"Um like who, Mr. Smith with the sweaty underarms or perhaps Mrs. Gonzalez the toothless librarian or better yet the janitor?" Simon sarcastically stated. He was rewarded with an elbow in the ribs from Clary. "Ow that hurt! Not cool Fray, not cool."

Clary sighed, "You knew what I was talking about. Are you going to invite Izzy? Or maybe you think you'll have better chances of the school staff attending?"

"For your information if I wanted Izzy to come then I would have no problem asking her," Simon reassured her with false confidence.

Clary called his bluff, "Oh yeah? Well I think I see her at the end of the hallway right now, let's see what she says."

"Don't worry I'll ask her later, no need to take her time up right now," Simon protested. Now that he realized his feelings for Izzy he was afraid he would be awkward around her. He hadn't talked to her at all in the past week and he left all of her messages on read.

Simon was very unlucky however because Clary was already calling for Izzy, "Izzy! Can you come here really quickly?" Oh God no, Izzy was coming this way. Things were not going well for him.

When Izzy made it over to them she asked, "Yes, what did you want Clary?" She stopped when she saw him looking at her nervously and gave him a triumphant look in return, "Well hello Simon, it's been a while hasn't it? I mean the last time we were together, when was that again?" Simon started remembering what happened at the mall which caused his face to turn red. A small laugh from Izzy let Simon know she was having fun messing with him.

Clary seemed to feel bad for him so she cut in, "Simon here wanted to ask you something." After a few seconds of silence Clary nudged him with her shoulder, "You had something to ask her didn't you?"

Clary's words caught Simon's attention and he concurred, "Yes, I had something to ask you Izzy. I am having a gig this Friday night at Java Jones and I was wondering if you would be interested in going. Of course if you are too busy or you just don't want to go then you don't have to.."

This time it was Izzy who interjected, "Sure Simon, I would love to see you performing."

Simon did not expect her answer to be yes so he was taken aback, "Really? You really want to see me play?" This was the first time that someone other than Clary, Jocelyn, Luke, Maia, or his sister had ever been interested in his music.

Izzy seemed to notice his uncertainty because she clarified, "We are friends right, and this is what friends do. Besides, from the way Clary talks about your skills I would have to be crazy to miss out on a chance to hear you play."

"Great!" Clary exclaimed. "Now that that's settled, we will see you later. We have plans to attend to." Clary pulled Simon along behind her. "This is progress Simon! With any luck and my help you two will be dating within a couple of weeks!"

Isabelle was pleased and it was written all across her face, soon enough Simon Lewis would be hers. She used her spare key to unlock the door to the apartment her brothers were renting. Jace and Alec were in the kitchen talking about mangoes when she came in. "Do either of you have any plans on Friday?"

"No," they replied in unison.

"Then how about going to a coffee shop with live music?" Isabelle suggested.

Jace snorted, "That's not really my sort of thing. Now that I think about it it's not yours either. Why are you going?"

Isabelle begrudgingly gave an answer, "Simon is playing a gig there."

Alec sighed, "So this is all about your petty plan? Count me out."

Isabelle turned to Jace, "Clary will be there."

Jace paused for a short while before giving in, "Fine, we will go to his stupid gig on Friday. Are you happy now?"

"Hold on a second, I never said that I was going," Alec retorted. "Don't just assume that I am going because you two are."

"Suit yourself, you can stay home alone on a Friday night while we are out having fun," Jace chirped.

"Fine, I'll go," Alec cursed. "You two owe me though, out of the three of us I am the only one who gets nothing out of this."

Simon closed the door to his bedroom and was ready to fall asleep when he heard Clary call through the door, "Don't forget to invite Maia to the gig, you know how invested she was in your music."

"Good idea!" Simon called back. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Maia. He then texted her a short message about the gig and she gave him a thumbs up emoji, which Simon took to mean that she would be there.

Friday was going to be a big night for him, Clary had promised to invite Jocelyn and Luke and Maia was going to be there as well. With all of his friends coming to cheer him on, he needed to put on a good show. Actually, it had to be the best show.

The next morning when Simon made it into the kitchen, Clary let out a shriek. "Simon you look awful, how much did you sleep last night?"

"Last night? Not one wink why, is it that obvious?" Simon asked.

"YES!" Clary exclaimed. "You are luck today is only Thursday, because you look terrible."

"Why thank you, I appreciate the compliment keep them coming." The two continued to banter for the next couple of minutes until they realized the time.

"Oh crap, we are going to be late to school again!" Clary pointed out in frustration. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"I don't know, probably because you always take forever to wake up," Simon teased.

"Says the person who woke up after me," Clary countered.

"Ah it feels so good being right, remember I said I never fell asleep last night. So you actually woke up after me, I just got out of bed later than you."

Clary muttered, "Technicalities, now come on! We really need to stop being late so frequently."

By the time the two made it to class the bell had just rung, well at least the two of them were not late today. Simon saw Izzy as he was making his way to his seat she turned as if feeling his eyes on her, so Simon immediately turned his head in the other direction.

Mr. Smith started his lecture and every focused their attention on him. Soon enough however he started talking about himself like usual. Back in his day, blah blah blah. Izzy turned toward Simon and rolled her eyes which Simon to laugh a little too loudly. Mr. Smith heard the laugh and rewarded Simon with a scowl before returning to his story.

"What was that for?" Clary whispered.

"Nothing important, don't worry about it," Simon reassured her. "I just thought about something funny, that's all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sizzystan, May 14th: And here we go. Hopefully simon's going to sweep izzy off her feets with his music skills. Pls don't let him suffer to much when he finds out that izzy's playing with him…**

**collasoll: As an avid Simon fan myself I sure hope things go well for him, but you will just have to wait and see.**

* * *

Simon awoke on Friday morning feeling light as a feather, words could not convey his excitement. Today was the day, if things went well he would be offered an official spot at Java Jones as a performer.

Simon slowly made his way out of bed and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. Today he would not be late, he needed to start the day off right. Simon took rather short showers so within ten minutes he was dressed and in front of Clary's door. He knocked on on her door a few times and when there was still no answer he called out her name. A familiar grumbling came from the other side of the door letting Simon know that Clary was awake.

Now that that was done Simon made his way into the kitchen and took two bowls and spoons from the kitchen drawers and a box of Lucky Charms. Then he grabbed two glasses of milk, walked to the fridge, grabbed the milk jug, and poured some into each glass.

Funnily enough, doing all of this in the mornings made Simon feel as if he was Clary's caretaker. Mornings were never her strong point, but Simon was always an early riser. Due to this, Simon was used to preparing things for Clary in the mornings, but somehow they were still late quite frequently.

Tired of waiting on Clary, Simon started on his bowl of cereal as he continued to ponder about what songs he should sing. He had written a few songs recently that he felt were pretty good, but he wasn't sure whether or not he was ready to play them. It took a lot of time and effort to memorize the words, chords, and pitches for each song. Simon had been a little out of practice due to the... distractions going on in the past few weeks since college had started.

When Simon was just about done with his bowl he heard Clary's footsteps approaching the kitchen. "One of these days I am afraid I won't be able to wake you up at all Fray," Simon teased as he nudged her with his elbow.

Clary let out a long sigh, "If only that were the case, I could use a few more hours of sleep in the mornings."

"Hold on now, you were the one who picked out the morning class. You have no one else to blame but yourself for your lack of sleep," Simon pointed out.

Clary growled, "Hindsight is 20/20, starting next semester I am not picking any classes that start before eleven. I need my beauty sleep, otherwise I look like a zombie fresh out of a horror movie." Simon chuckled at her reference. "What time is it now?" Clary had started on her bowl of cereal, which was a good thing because as Simon checked his watch he saw that they had about ten minutes to finish up and head for class. Simon showed Clary the time which caused Clary to mutter, "Stupid morning classes. Don't worry Simon we won't be late today, I am almost finished here."

The walk to school lasted roughly ten minutes which Simon and Clary usually had to run in under five minutes. Today however, was one of the few days that they could take it easy and look at the scenery. By scenery Simon meant noisy cars, old buildings, and the occasional rat. Home sweet home, take it or leave it this is where he had lived his whole life.

When Simon and Clary arrived to class they took their usual seats whenever they saw that there was no one else in class. "Um Simon, where is everyone else?" Clary asked in confusion.

Simon looked around the classroom again before answering, "I am not sure. Were we supposed to meet somewhere else today?" As Simon said that he pulled out his phone to check his email. Sure enough he had one new email from Mr. Smith that said class was canceled. "Well that is just great, apparently he sent us an email at three in the morning letting us know class was canceled."

Clary looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel in her head she was so angry. "Are you kidding me?" She fumed. "I could have slept in today! I am going to kill him."

"Calm down, it's our own fault for not checking our email before leaving for school, everyone else apparently got the message," As Simon was finishing his statement Izzy, Jace, and Alec walked into the room. "Well not quite everyone anyway."

Izzy made a double take across the room before inquiring, "Where is everyone? Don't tell me, class is canceled today?"

Simon nodded his head as he responded, "We were just wondering the same thing so I checked my email and sure enough it is."

"Well how about we head over to Java Jones and scout it out now?" Isabelle suggested earnestly. "I know your thing isn't until tonight, but we could hang out there for a few hours anyway."

Jace and Alec looked like they could care less about going anywhere with Simon. At that moment however Clary chimed in, "Sure, that sounds like fun. This will also help alleviate some of Simon's worries."

"I'll go too," Jace mentioned which made Simon and Alec roll their eyes. Simon had noticed before how Jace had been a little too interested in Clary, which didn't bode well with him. Jace was not the type of guy he imagined Clary being with, of course he had always thought he would be the one with her. Jace however seemed like a player to Simon and one that would only end up breaking Clary's heart.

When they made it out onto the street Clary walked on Simon's left side and then Izzy was on his right while Jace and Alec had noticeably put some distance in between themselves and Simon by walking nearly a block behind him. "So Simon, are you nervous?" Isabelle questioned.

"Well now that you brought it up yes, I am extremely nervous," Simon started. "I could forget the words up there, play a wrong note, or maybe I am actually really bad and people just gave me compliments out of pity." As Simon said this he was looking at Clary.

"Oh come on Simon, would I ever lie to you?" Clary pointed out. "Believe me whenever I tell you that your singing skills and ability to play instruments are the best I have ever heard."

"Is he really that good? My expectations just went way up for tonight then," Isabelle chatted.

"What have you done now Clary? Don't get her hopes up, there is already enough pressure on me as it is!" Simon exclaimed nervously. He was starting to wonder if he should just back out, maybe he wasn't ready for this kind of thing after all.

"For the love of God Simon, you are playing at a coffee shop not at a concert. People aren't expecting you to be an idol or anything, they just want to hear local live music," Clary countered. "Stop thinking so much about everything that could go wrong, just focus on the here and now and have fun."

"I hate to break it to you Simon, but Clary is right," Isabelle said. "I was just joking about having super high expectations, I just want to hear you playing. You shouldn't be feeling pressured about this in the least bit. I promise that there won't be any hecklers tonight, so just try to play your heart out tonight."

"I won't make any promises," Simon replied. Simon spent the rest of the walk to Java Jones silently, deep in thought. When they arrived at the coffee shop, they sat down at the nearest booth. Simon, Clary, and Izzy sat on one side while Jace and Alec opted to sit across from them. Simon looked around the coffee shop, it was quaint and cozy. It seemed like the perfect venue for Simon, Clary had done a nice job of picking out a venue.

A barista came up to them and Simon saw that his name tag read 'Magnus.' Magnus was a tall Asian male that was wearing eye-liner, had gel infused hair, and had what seemed to be glitter all over him. "Hello biscuit," he called out to Clary. His eyes scanned across Simon and the rest of the group before lingering a little too long on Alec. "Is the person playing tonight with you right now?"

Clary seemed unnerved by the barista's unusual style sense, because she answered immediately, "Yes, the person playing tonight is none other than my best friend Simon Lewis." As she said this she pointed at me to indicate which of us was Simon.

The smile on Magnus' face fell as he heard Clary's response. He sighed, 'And here I was hoping it would be the blue eyed one." Alec choked on his drink when he heard this.

Simon didn't know how to respond so he simply mumbled, "Sorry I am such a let down." Clary put her arm around Simon's shoulder to reassure him.

"Now Magnus, that was quite rude. What did we talk about?" Clary chastised. "You need to think before you speak."

Magnus turned back towards Simon as he explained, "I am sorry whatever your name was, I tend to speak my mind." That didn't really sound like an apology to Simon, but he did not want to anger the person who got him the gig so he kept his mouth shut.

Simon whispered in Clary's ear, "Maybe you should introduce him to everyone else?"

Clary face palmed before stating, "My bad for not realizing that we all needed introductions. This is Isabelle, Jace, and Alec they are all siblings." Then she pointed towards Magnus, "This here is Magnus Bane, he also happens to be the reason that Simon is playing tonight."


	10. Chapter 10

After introductions were finished and everyone was acquainted with Magus, there was only one hour left before Simon was supposed to be on stage. "I am going to start setting up my equipment now, I'll be back after the show." Simon said as he walked to the stage.

Clary stood up after him and made her way over to the stage. "Let me help you, it can't hurt can it?" Clary prodded.

"Sure, why not? By now you should know your way around most of my stuff. Can you grab the keyboard and arrange that while I work on bringing the amps and the guitar?" Simon asked.

Clary nodded her head as she walked away from Simon. With Clary's help Simon would be able to set up just a little bit faster, but he was grateful for her offer to help. He also knew that even if he told her he could handle it, she would pester him until he broke down and gave in anyway. It would save a lot of time and effort if he just allowed her to help without resisting.

Once Clary brought in the keyboard and started setting it up, he was able to hook it up to an amp and hook his guitar up to the other. He then spent some time doing a mic check and making sure that his guitar and keyboard were fully functional. Once he was sure that everything was in place and set up, he let Clary know that she could go back to the others.

Before he knew it, it was time for Simon to play the first song. The opening song of his performance was one that required his microphone and acoustic guitar.

Isabelle had to admit her hopes for Simon's stage performance were high due to how much Clary talked up his abilities. She was not prepared however for how mind blowing his performance was. When he sang she could feel it in her soul, it felt like the two of them were the only two people in the world and he was serenading her. She was taken aback by the fact that Simon was able to do this to her. It was no wonder that he was majoring in music, he could become a pop star if he actually put in the effort.

Isabelle turned her head away from Simon and looked over to her brothers who both had their mouths open in surprise. It was then that she realized it wasn't just her that he was reaching, he was reaching every single audience member.

After what felt like an eternity, but in a good way, Simon stopped singing as the song finished. There was a few seconds of silence before the sound of clapping started to roar throughout the coffee shop. As she looked back to Simon she saw that he was surprised himself by the crowd's support. He wasn't being humble when he said he didn't think he was very good, he just was not aware of his own talent. Once the clapping quieted down Simon started his next song, which was just as amazing as the first one.

Simon played another three songs before he was done. People were cheering for an encore, but Simon told them that he did not have any other songs at the moment. He could not believe it, people actually loved him playing. Of course he had heard nice things from his family and friends, but he could not really trust their opinion due to their bias.

Isabelle was about to walk up to Simon, but a storm of girls reached him before her. They were handing out their numbers left and right to a flustered looking Simon while telling him to call them. These girls were starting to rub her the wrong way. Then, one specific girl made her way to Simon and pulled him into a big hug. She wrapped her arms around Simon and after a few moments Simon hugged her back. Now Isabelle was curious, who is this girl and why is she hugging Simon like that? To make matters worse she pulled Simon's face down and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which he seemed fairly accustomed to.

Isabelle looked over as she saw Clary also looking at Simon and the girl. "Hey Clary, just who is that girl anyway?" Isabelle asked.

"What girl?" Clary questioned. Clary seemed to realize who she was talking to because she replied, "Oh, you mean the one with Simon? That is his ex-girlfriend Maia."

Isabelle's stomach dropped, ex-girlfriend? Why were the two so close after breaking up anyway? She thought that everyone hated their exes, but Simon and Maia were treating each other like best friends. Clary laughed, "Wow, jealousy does not look good on you Izzy."

"W-what?" Isabelle stammered. "Jealous? Who me? Of her? Yeah right!" Before she could continue, Simon and Maia made their way over to Clary and Isabelle.

"Hey Clary, long time no see," Maia called out as she went in for a hug with Clary, who returned the hug. "How have things been lately?"

"They have been pretty good actually, college is way better than high school. I am able to live away from home for the first time, I have less school days, and more free time every week. That, and Simon and I have more classes together now."

"So do you have a boyfriend yet, or have you kissed anyone?" Maia teased.

Isabelle saw Clary become flustered and try to avoid the question, but when she looked over she saw that Simon was just as flustered. "No way!" Isabelle exclaimed. "You two totally kissed didn't you!"

Neither Clary or Simon were able to give her a response. Their inability to answer her question caused her stomach to churn, for some reason it was extremely bothering for her that the two of them were kissing. When Isabelle had went after boys before this had never been a problem, so why was she so upset with Simon right now?

"So the two of you are finally dating then?" Maia inquired. "Good for you Simon, after all these years you were finally able to get the girl."

Simon chimed in, "Well, not exactly. We were just testing the waters, in the end we decided that it would be better if we stayed being best friends. I think that we were both confused about what our true feelings were, but now everything is all cleared up."

Isabelle took a moment to let his words sink in. She pondered what he said, did this mean that Clary was no longer going to be an obstacle? If so, that was great news. No all she had to worry about was his ex-girlfriend.

Maia looked over at Isabelle and said, "So, is no one going to introduce the two of us?"

Simon took the initiative to introduce them, "Okay Izzy this is Maia, my ex-girlfriend. Maia this is my...friend Isabelle from college." Isabelle smirked as Simon paused, he was unsure of what she meant to him. This was her chance.

"Just friends really? That hurts so much, after all we did sleep together," Isabelle protested.

Simon clearly did not expect her to say this as his discomfort was becoming apparent due to his body language. He put his head down and fiddled with his hands nervously.

"You did what?" Maia queried. It was evident by the look on her face that she was unsure of how to take the news.

"Why would you say that? Anyways you are making it seem worse than it was, all we did was sleep!" Simon clarified.

"Ah, but if I recall it was in my bed and you were naked," Isabelle pointed out. She was enjoying embarrassing Simon while at the same time coming in between Simon and Maia.

"Okay Simon, you are going to tell me what happened right now." Maia declared. Simon gave her the run down of the events that lead up to that situation. After hearing the whole story Maia added, "Wow Isabelle, you really need to learn how stories better." As she talked she stared daggers at Isabelle. It appeared that Isabelle had poked the bear alright. Instead of backing down though, she decided to push her luck.

"Oh well there was this one time at the mall.." Isabelle started. She saw Simon giving her pleading eyes to stop, but she continued anyway, "We leaned in to kiss and it lasted for nearly a minute. Isn't that right Simon?"

"Well it was good to see you Clary!" Maia yelled as she walked out of the coffee shop in a hurry. One point Isabelle, zero points Maia.

"Well that was awkward.." Clary thought out loud. Simon could not agree more, what was going on? Why was Izzy telling Maia about all of those things anyway? Those were not things she should just be telling anyone out of the blue.


	11. Chapter 11

**I was trying to connect more with the readers by writing their reviews and then leaving comments on them, but Austwigirl brought up the fact that there is no need to do that as it is excessive. Let me know if that's how you guys feel as well, because I don't want to be bothering you guys unnecessarily. For this chapter I will just go back to how things were, let me know which you guys like better. **

**Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than usual, I promise to make the other one coming out this week around 1700 words to make up for it. I just felt like this was a good stopping point for this chapter.**

* * *

Clary had been so focused on Simon's love life that she had rarely anytime to pursue hers as it was. The past couple of weeks she had been trying to help Simon with Izzy and had been avoiding her own feelings for Jace. Her feelings were more along the lines of a crush though, because she hadn't really gotten the chance to know him yet. The only times she ever saw him were during class and the occasional time he came to hang out whenever Simon invited Izzy. Clary vowed that she would change starting now, it was time she put herself out there and found out how Jace felt about her. If there was even an inkling that he liked her then she would make her move.

Clary called Izzy, "Hey Izzy are you free today?"

Izzy replied quickly, "No, why? Were you wanting to have a girls day out? I would be so down with going to a salon or something.

"Um," Clary started. "Actually I was wondering if the four of us could hang out today. You, me, Simon, and Jace."

Izzy laughed before speaking, "Oh, so you want a double date basically? Okay, I'll bring him along and then at some point make an excuse to leave with Simon. Does that sound good?"

"Perfect!" Clary exclaimed. Yes! This was exactly what Clary wanted, now she and Simon could be happy.

Clary knocked on Simon's door before entering and found Simon sprawled out across his bed reading a comic book. He looked up when he heard her enter. "What's up Clary?" He asked.

"I am planning on heading to the mall later today," Clary stated. "Do you want to come with?"

Simon put his comic book down as he looked deep in thought, Clary guessed he was pondering over what he should do. "Yeah okay, sure thing. I don't have any plans today anyway," Simon answered.

"Jace you are coming with me today," Isabelle demanded. "We are going to the mall."

Jace gave her a confused look before replying, "You forgot to say please, or even phrase it as a question. Why don't you try again and see what my answer is."

Alec let out a chuckle before cutting in, "Why are you only inviting Jace anyway? It feels like you are purposely leaving me out. I am fun too for your information if that is what this is about."

Jace and Isabelle both started laughing as they heard that. Then Isabelle rolled her eyes as she said, "You are totally fun, if your definition of fun is following the rules all of the time and being a goody two shoes."

"I hate to say it Alec but Izzy is right," Jace agreed. "You and fun are polar opposites. Putting that aside though, I plan on staying in today. Sorry Izzy, today I want to relax and put my feet up."

"That's fine with me, I'll just tell Clary that you canceled," Isabelle mentioned nonchalantly. Sure enough she had picked the right thing to say, because Jace was already on his feet. Isabelle waited patiently until Jace finished preparing for the trip to the mall.

Alec sat on the couch deep in thought about his siblings. It was official his family sucked, anytime it came to relationships he was kicked to the curb. Was he ever invited to come with Izzy and Jace to romantic meetups? No, each time he was left home alone with only his thoughts. Then once they came back from their outings, they acted like everything was fine. He was becoming fed up with being the only one left out. Alec decided then and there that today he would not stay in all night long like every other night, he picked up his jacket and made his way out the door. Today he was going to Java Jones and he would have a good time without Izzy and Jace. He would show them that he was fun too.

Alec made his way into the coffee shop and saw Magnus across the room, he had almost forgot that Magnus worked here. Alec changed his mind he had no problems with staying in for another day by himself, he turned towards the exit and was almost at the door when he heard his named called. Well it was too late now Alec thought as he turned around and saw Magnus standing in front of him. "Is it just you here today?" Magnus asked.

Alec cleared his throat before responding, "Yes it's just me today, everyone else is off doing their own thing."

Magnus's face lit up and he exclaimed, "Splendid! How about we get to know each other a little better? My break just started so we can talk for about half an hour before I have to go back."

"That sounds good to me," Alec agreed. Maybe today he would be able to hop out of his shell.

Simon was curious about why Clary was so excited about venturing to the mall. Normally Clary was one of those girls who could care less about going to the mall, it was obvious from the way that she dressed. Unlike most college girls Clary was very much a tomboy and rarely if ever used makeup. That was why Simon was caught off guard when Clary came out of her room all "dolled up." She was wearing makeup, eye liner, and lipstick. On top of that she was wearing a dress, a dress! Simon had never before seen her wear a dress, not even to his father's funeral. "You look...wow. Just wow." Simon stated in awe. If he still felt that he was in love with her things would be very awkward right now, he was sure of that.

"Do you really think so?" Clary asked. "You aren't just saying that because we are best friends right? I need to know the truth no matter how harsh the reality is."

"Clary Adele Fray, I promise that you look stunning. I don't know why you decided to dress up or anything, but if you are trying to impress someone at the mall let me tell you that you will. Right now you are a total knockout. Can you check my mouth real quick, I might be drooling."

Clary let out a laugh as she nudged Simon's shoulder, "Okay. okay. I believe you, there's no need to tell me all of that, TMI!"

"Good, as long as you believe me," Simon told her.

The two made there way to the mall and Simon was the only one in the dark about the whole meetup. While he did have some ideas as to what Clary might want, he had no idea that Izzy and Jace would be there. If he had known that Izzy was going he would most likely be freaking out right now. Clary was glad that she had kept him in the dark, this way he wouldn't be stressing himself out too much.

Clary checked her watched as they entered the mall, it was currently 2:50 which meant they had about ten minutes until they were supposed to meet up with Izzy and Jace.

Simon thought back to the last time he was at this mall. The images of him and Izzy flashed into his head. It was embarrassing for Simon to be back at this mall, he didn't know if he would ever be able to come back here without thinking about that incident. As Simon was thinking about everything that had happened he saw Clary waving so he turned around. Everything made sense as Simon saw Izzy and Jace walk up to them. Clary had planned this out, a double date of sorts or whatever. Great, just great. Simon still didn't know how to talk to Izzy or what to say after what happened at Java Jones. While he was happy to see her, he was still mad about how she was intentionally pissing Maia off, who happened to be his only friend other than Clary.

"Hey Simon, could we talk?" Izzy asked. Clary nodded to him and walked away with Jace while Izzy pulled him in the opposite direction.


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry that there were no chapters last week, I was putting in overtime at work and I had other things to take care of at home. The good news is however, that I am starting my summer classes so I will only be working 3 days a week. Due to this I will be back to two uploads a week unless something major happens (like what happened last week). Thank you for the continued support on the story. **

**No promises but I will try to finish two more chapters by Sunday. If it happens it will be another bonus chapter to thank you guys, we will have to see how things play out though.**

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Simon followed Isabelle until they wound up at the food court, the same food court they were at last time. Simon was feeling a mix of confusion and excitement, he couldn't help but think back about the last time they were here. Was she really going to kiss him again? Isabelle finally picked a table and sat down, Simon followed suit by taking the seat across from her.

Isabelle did not say anything for a few minutes so Simon tried to break the ice, "So, what was up with you and Maia the other night?" Clearly Simon had chosen the wrong topic to talk about because he was rewarded with a glare from Isabelle.

"Nothing really," Isabelle clarified. "I just don't particularly like her. Why are you two so close anyway? I thought couples that broke up naturally hated each other afterwards."

"Well she is my only ex so I am not sure, for us it is just natural. I can't even imagine feeling animosity towards Maia, maybe the two of us are just special circumstances. But why does what happens between Maia and I affect you anyway?" Simon asked.

"What do you mean? I think I have made my feelings for you perfectly clear. Or were you just assuming I do that with anyone?" Isabelle growled.

Simon thought over her response before answering, "I am not saying that you would do that with anyone, but do you really like me? Don't get me wrong I really do like you, so it makes me happy to hear you say you like me. The problem with your feelings though is that it feels like you are trying to accomplish something, like I am just a trophy or something."

Isabelle abruptly stood up and sneered, "So what if that's what I am trying to do? Just play your part as the next of my achievements like the rest of guys always do! Don't get all high and mighty on me now, you have practically been drooling over me since you met me! You should feel honored that I even give you the light of day!"

Simon sighed as he put his head in his hands, "I was afraid you were going to say something like that. Look I am not trying to judge how you handle things, it's just that I won't be apart of it. What I am looking for is love. Things didn't work out with Clary, Maia, or you but that doesn't mean I will give up. If you change your mind one day and want to give dating a shot for real, then let me know. For now though, I think we should just stay friends." She leaned over the table and slapped Simon across the cheek before walking away. Simon watched as Isabelle stormed away from him and wondered if he had made the right decision. Izzy was way out of his league and they both knew it, the fact that she even looked at him was surprising enough. Simon shook the thought away, he deserved to be treated with respect. If all she wanted was to try him out and then throw him away then she had another thing coming, Simon wasn't anyone's plaything.

Clary was excited that she was finally able to have some alone time with Jace, this was her chance to make her move. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the nearest clothing store. "Where are we going?" Jace called out in confusion.

"We are going to pick out some new outfits. Now," She said as she grabbed a few shirts from around the store. "Try these on and then come out so I can see how you look." Jace made a loud sighing sound that made Clary chuckle. She was determined that today her and Jace would have fun. After what seemed like forever Jace came back dressed in one of the shirts she picked out. It was a black muscle shirt that was very tight and outlined his muscular frame. "What took you so long?"

"Are you kidding me that was only a few minutes!" Jace exclaimed. "I had to fix my hair after putting the shirt on! Did you just want to me walk around the store looking like a mess? I would be denying all of the beautiful ladies of the chance to see me at my best."

Clary rolled her eyes as she replied, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I like this one you should buy this, now hurry up and try the other ones on!" This process continued for the next hour until Clary and Jace were checking out with six new shirts for Jace and a couple pairs of blue jeans.

Things were going great so far. She was spending quality time with Jace and no one was going to interrupt her, or so she thought. Out of the corner of her eye Clary saw a figure hurrying towards Jace. She was confused until she saw that it was Izzy and she did not look very happy. "Jace!" Isabelle yelled."

"What do you want Izzy, can't you see I'm a little busy right now?" Jace asked. He was obviously bothered by the sudden intrusion of their...date? Was this a date right now?

Clary had no time to ponder whether this was in fact a date or not however, because Isabelle responde, "We are leaving now! Just the two of us," She exclaimed as she turned her head towards Clary and glared at her. Now Clary was starting to put two and two together. Izzy had been with Simon and now she was furious and alone, he had obviously done something wrong. While she loved him to death, he was terrible when it came to dating girls.

"You are being serious right now right? It's an emergency?" Jace calmly asked. Izzy nodded her head in response. "Alright then I guess we have to go, you can right back with Simon right?"

Clary couldn't help but feel disappointed, things were finally starting to go well between them and then Simon somehow went and ruined it. She knew it wasn't fair to blame him without knowing the situation, but she didn't know what else to do. She just needed someone to blame and Simon wasn't here to defend himself anyway. "Yeah that's fine, I'll see you two later," Clary stated.

After Izzy and Jace left Clary shot Simon a text so that they could meet up. Apparently he was in the food court, which was convenient for her because she was starving. She was planning on having lunch with Jace, but that plan failed the moment Izzy showed up.

When Clary arrived at the food court and found Simon she saw the hand imprint on his face. "She hit you pretty good, didn't she?" Clary pointed out.

Simon looked up at her with a somber expression, "Yes, she did." Clary thought he would elaborate, but he refrained from saying anything more.

Clary thought over what to say. Where should she start? She decided to go with the simplest question, "What exactly happened between you two?"

Simon stayed quiet for awhile before he finally spoke, "She never had any real feelings for me. It was all just a game to her." The usual chipper joke-telling Simon was gone, the Simon in front of her was full of depression.

"Are you sure about that? Maybe you are just overthinking things. Do you want me to talk to Izzy and clear things up?" Clary asked.

Simon shook his head, "No I am not wrong. I flat out asked her and she confirmed it for herself, she was less angry that I realized it and more angry that I would not participate in her game. I guess this is my own fault, I'm not lucky enough for someone like her to date me anyway. What does a worthless loser like me have to offer anyone anyway?"

"Simon stop talking like that!" Clary yelled. "You are Simon freaking Lewis, any girl would be lucky to date you. You dated Maia, remember? She is one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen, are you trying to belittle her right now? Maybe Izzy wasn't the girl for you, but somewhere out there you find someone. Do not give up just because of one bad experience."

Simon looked at her with hopeful eyes and hesitantly queried, "Are you being serious? Do you think that there are other girls out there for me? So you mean what happened with Izzy was not my fault?"

Clary stood up and pulled her chair alongside of Simon's and pulled him into a hug, "Of course I am telling you the truth Simon, what happened was not your fault. If anything she is at fault for toying with your emotions, I can't believe she would do something like this to you. Especially not after how she talked and acted towards you. I was so sure that she wanted to be your girlfriend, I should have noticed something was up."

"Thank you Clary," Simon croaked as he started to cry. "I really needed a friend right now."

"What are best friends for?" Clary replied with a smile.


	13. Chapter 13

**Before anyone gets to angered by what happened with Isabelle and is wondering when it will happen, let me just tell you it will happen. The main problem right now is the Izzy needs to get herself together first, which will hopefully happen sooner or later.**

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The whole ride home Izzy did not say a word. This worried Jace, because usually he could not figure out how to shut her up. All he knew is that whatever happened between her and Simon deeply affected her, the last time she was this shut off was when their parents filed for divorce. If Jace was not going to hear about what happened from Izzy, then he needed to ask Clary. Surely Simon told her about what happened by now right?

Jace opened the door to Izzy's apartment and sat down on the couch next to Alec, "Hey guys, how was the mall?"

Jace sighed as he said, "Don't ask." Izzy walked to her room without a word. Alec turned to Jace and gave him a confused look. He could tell that Alec wanted him to explain what happened. "Like I said, it's better if you refrained from asking about the mall." With that out of the way he went outside of the apartment and called Clary.

The phone rang a few times before she picked up, "Hello, Clary?"

"Jace? What is it?" Clary asked. She was obviously clueless as to why he was calling her.

Jace thought for a minute before he decided how to bring up today's events, "Can you tell me what happened today? Izzy has not said a word since the mall, what did Simon do to her?"

"What did Simon do?" Clary replied loudly. Now what was wrong with her? First Izzy now Clary, was there something going on he didn't know about? "You mean your sister right? She is the one at fault here after all."

"What do you mean she is the one at fault?" Jace questioned. "I know you care for Simon a lot, but what happened was obviously not her fault otherwise she would not be this upset."

"Well that is where you are wrong. Your sister was just toying with Simon, she never had any real feelings for him!" Clary yelled. "She went ahead and messed with his heart and his head. Do you know how hard it was for him to put himself out there?"

"Oh," Jace responded. So she found out about Izzy's habit, so that was the problem. But why was his sister so upset then? She got what she wanted right?

"Oh? Just oh? You already knew, didn't you? You knew your sister was like this yet you still let her do this to my best friend? What is wrong with you?"

"Clary look I can explain," he started, but before he could continue he heard a click. As he looked at his phone he saw she had hung up on him. What the heck! Why did his sister's scheme have to ruin everything? Now all four of them were unhappy.

Simon skipped every day that week, he was clearly still upset about the whole Izzy incident. He just moped around the apartment re-watching Star Wars and eating ice cream. Clary had no idea how to help him, so she called Maia to see if she could help. Maia seemed extremely eager to help which was good. Clary had never been told the reason that they broke up in the first place. They were a good match in her eyes, so she was shocked when she heard the news.

A few hours later there was a knock at the door and when Clary opened the door she saw that it was Maia. "I knew there was something off about her, I hated from the start," Maia pointed out. Clary was sure that was more of a jealousy thing, but she had no intention of bringing that up now. The last thing Clary wanted to do was run off the person who was the most likely to cheer Simon up. "Where is he?"

"He's in his bedroom, its the one down the hall to the left," Clary replied. She was hopeful as she saw Maia make her way to Simon's door.

Simon looked away from the TV as he heard a knock at the door. "Go away Clary," he called out. "Let me be depressed in peace." Despite his clear protests his door opened and to his surprise he saw Maia in the entrance way. "Oh its you."

"What a warm greeting, its nice to see you too Simon," Maia replied sarcastically. "I heard you had a fight with that girl."

He sighed as he stated, "I don't want to talk about her right now. So unless you came here to watch Star Wars or play video games you should just leave." He wasn't really in the mood for a heart to heart at the moment, he had already had one with Clary.

Without responding Maia sat down beside him and motioned for his Xbox controller. Simon begrudgingly turned off Star Wars and switched his TV over HDMI 1 so he could play Xbox. While he was normally all for video games, he tried to avoid playing games with split screen. He hated how small the screen became and it was almost impossible for him to tell what was going on unless he squinted.

Things went pretty much how Simon predicted they would, out of the ten matches they played he only won one of them. Even though he won that game, he could tell that Maia was taking it easy on him. "So are you good now, or do we need to have a heart to heart?" Maia asked.

"No, I'm good now. Thanks...for everything. I think I'll be fine now, there are always more fish in the sea," Simon replied.

"That's good, I'm glad," Maia answered with a smile. With that she went home, which left Simon and Clary alone. He made his way into the living room and found Clary sleeping on the couch, so he grabbed a blanket and covered her up. When Simon looked up at the clock he saw that it was nearing midnight. Had he really been playing with Maia for that long? You know what they say, time flies when you are having fun.

Jace was really starting to worry about Izzy, she hadn't been acting like herself ever since that day at the mall. Normally when she was done with guys she was cheery and moved on quickly, but for some reason she was visibly upset. He wondered if deep down she had started to develop genuine feelings for him, but quickly brushed the thought aside. In all the years he had known Izzy she had never opened up her heart to anyone that wasn't family, he doubted that some random nerd would have the ability to break through her icy shell. Alec on the other hand seems far too happy. Jace was used to the brooding and debby downer side of Alec, but he wasn't very accustomed to how he was acting now. He always seemed to be smiling now and his smile was contagious.

Jace decided not to worry too much about it as he headed to the gym. The gym was always his escape whenever he needed to relax and take a step back from the world around him. There was something about pushing himself to the limit that was freeing in a way. Jace was excited to partake in his normal routine when he heard someone grunting and struggling while using the bench press. Being the good samaritan he was, he went over to help spot for the struggling person. "Are you good man?" He asked.

"Y-yeah. Just warming up," the stranger responded. As Jace got into a spotting position and looked down he saw that the person was none other than Simon. "Since when did you come here?"

Simon scoffed, "I was trying something new, trying to make a change in my life and all. I went through something recently, but you would know all about that wouldn't you?"

"Whose side should I have been on? My sisters or some guy I hardly even know?" Jace pointed out. "Obviously I am not saying that what she did was right by any means, but that doesn't mean I would go behind her back for someone who I have almost no connection to."

"I find it amazing how you are able to justify your actions so easily even when you're wrong," Simon retorted. "Have you ever thought of becoming a lawyer?"

"Haha very funny, for real though I do feel bad," Jace explained. "It's not that I have a problem with you or anything. We could talk more over lunch if you wanted?"

"I'd rather not," Simon muttered as he walked out of the gym. Well that went better than Jace expected, Simon could have tried to punch him or something. After what just happened Jace decided that he needed to have a talk with Izzy, maybe she would be done toying with people once and for all. Maybe with the help of Alec he could knock some sense into her.


	14. Chapter 14

**In this chapter I use three characters from Shadowhunters Academy, if you haven't read it don't worry I won't spoil anything about the book. I am just using the characters and their personalities to increase the amount of characters. I hope this chapter is to your liking, thanks for the continued support on the series. **

Clary heard the door turning and looked up and saw Simon entering the apartment. He looked better than he had a couple days ago, but he still wasn't back to normal. Before Clary could say anything Simon said, "Your crush was at the gym."

Clary pondered who he was talking about momentarily before she realized he was talking about Jace, "Not anymore, he was in on everything from the beginning. Anyone who is willing to hurt you has no place in my life." Even though it hurt her to say this it was true, if Jace knew about the whole thing then she would have to let him go. Simon had been and always would be the most important person in her life.

"That's just the thing, he actually apologized to me and said that he was against in from the beginning," Simon pointed out.

"Are you serious? He actually apologized and everything? That sounds nothing like Jace, I bet his pride took a hit," Clary stated.

"Not that I forgive him, he's still an ass. This was probably the first time he even got my name right," Simon muttered.

"So you despise him or is it more of a rivalry type of thing?" Clary asked. If what Simon was saying was true, then maybe she could give Jace another chance. She would only give him another chance however, if Simon was okay with it. For her sake she really hoped he wouldn't hold a grudge against Jace.

"You just want to know if it's okay for you to go out with him right?" Simon asked. When Clary didn't respond Simon sighed, "What a selfish friend, caring more about your love life than your best friend."

"You know it's not like that," Clary started. "Just give me the world and I'll avoid him forever."

"Relax, it was only a joke. If you want to date a tool like that be my guest, who am I to get in your way. If he breaks your heart though, then I reserve the right to say I told you so." Simon bantered.

"What a heartless thing to say, you won't try to comfort me at all?" Clary queried.

"Not one bit," Simon responded as he made his way into his room and shut the door behind him.

Clary could hardly hold in her excitement, Simon gave her the okay to date Jace. Now all she had to worry about was how to heal Simon's broken heart.

Once school started on Monday Simon resumed attending classes again. His grades dropped slightly due to him not turning in his homework the previous week, but he still had all A's. This week was going to be interesting because he had a group presentation to give in his first class. Simon was planning on working together with Clary, but he had no idea who the other two members of the group were going to be. He and Clary knew hardly anyone in class and the only people they did know were the Lightwoods. Even if Simon had wanted to make a group with them, which he did not, there were three Lightwoods and then him and Clary which made five people total. Each group had to have exactly four members, so it was not even possible for the five of them to work together.

Simon scouted out the room looking for potential members when he heard the teacher say, "Okay, all of your groups have been assigned already. Look up at the board to see what group you are in, there will be no member changes either. Good luck everyone, your projects are due next week Friday." With that he left the room which meant that class was over.

Simon looked over at Clary and saw the disappointment in her face. "This is so unfair, we were supposed to be doing this together." Clary pouted.

"I'll be fine as long as I am not paired up with any of the Lightwoods," Simon declared. "Why don't we see who our group members are?" Simon and Clary made their way to the front of the room. Clary was in group 3 and for some reason so were all of the Lightwoods. That was fine with him though, that meant he wouldn't have to deal with any of them himself. Simon looked for a little longer until he found his name in group 6. His group members were George Lovelace, Beatriz Mendoza, and Julie Beauvale. Just Simon's luck, all three of them were the popular kids. George was a jock and Beatriz and Julie were both cheerleaders.

Clary happened to look over at his group and gave him a pat on the back, "That looks rough. On the bright side at least our groups weren't switched."

"That's true, I can handle this I am Simon freaking Lewis!" Simon exclaimed. Clary was right, his group could always be worse.

Simon walked over to where his group mates were standing. George was the first to notice him, he extended his hand out and smiled at Simon. Simon gladly shook his hand and smile back. "This class blows am I right?"

You could say that again," Simon agreed. As Simon looked over at Beatriz and Julie he saw that they were not as friendly as George. Beatriz smiled at him which was nice, but Julie on the other hand was looking at him as if he were a cockroach that was stuck on her shoe.

"It pains me to say this, but can you give me your number Simon?" Julie asked. Julie had decided to make a group chat for them all that way they could easily reach each other to talk about the project. "Plan on meeting at the library at noon on Friday to work on the project."

Julie seemed to be done so Simon made his way back to his seat and waited there for Clary to finish up discussing things with the Lightwoods.

Ten minutes passed before Clary was finished talking with the Lightwoods. "That must have been fun," Simon said sarcastically.

"Honestly it wasn't that bad I ignored Izzy, but Jace and Alec were fine," Clary replied. "How was your group?"

"It went pretty much how I expected, except George was nicer than I thought he would be," Simon answered. The two decided to stop by Java Jones on the way home from work. Simon wanted to set up another gig. Simon had been pushing off having another gig since his first one because he was still sorting things out, but now he was ready. Singing always made him feel relaxed and at the moment he needed to clear his mind. Simon was surprised when he saw George, Beatriz, and Julie sitting down in one of the booths.

Clary pulled Simon away from where the three popular kids were, she seemed to realize that he wanted to avoid talking to them. Unluckily for him he heard George call his name. Simon turned around and waved. "Oh hey guys, I didn't see you there."

"Yes you did, I clearly saw you looking at us and then walking the other way," Julie bluntly countered.

Simon looked at Clary but she didn't respond. "A-anyways how about you guys sit with us?" George asked.

"That sounds good," Clary remarked. Simon had no idea why Clary would agree to them, but it was too late to say no now. Simon slid into the booth by George and Clary slid in on Simon's right.

"We hang out here pretty often, but I have never seen you guys here," George commented. "Why are you guys here?"

"Well actually we have only been here a few times," Clary clarified. "Simon played a gig here a few weeks ago and we were trying to find out when he could play another one."

Magnus appeared before them looking even more glittery than the last time Simon saw him, "Did you want anything to drink or eat perhaps?"

"Not really, Simon actually wanted to play here again," Clary explained.

"Is that so? Let me talk to my manager about that, but things went well last time, so I am sure he will give you another chance," Magnus assured Simon. Now that there business was done Simon and Clary got up said goodbye to George, Beatriz, and Julie and started walking back to their apartment.

"I wonder why Simon wasn't at school at all last week," Beatriz asked.

Julie scoffed, "You seriously don't know?" Beatriz shook her head, so Julie continued, "He was getting very friendly with Isabelle Lightwood. You know how she is with guys, she probably threw him away and he spent the whole week crying about it."

Beatriz realized that this meant one thing, "So what you are saying is that he is single right?"

"Yeah he is, but why do you ask?" Julie queried.

"Oh no reason," Beatriz answered with a smile. That was good news for Beatriz, if Simon was single then that meant she could make her move.


	15. Chapter 15

**I just wanted to thank Sizzystan again for another review, I am glad that you are loving the story so far. I appreciate the feedback that you keep giving me. I appreciate every single story follow, favorite, and review as well as every personal follow, favorite, and review. I feel happy when people read my content and enjoy it. **

**I also wanted to let you know that out of all of my stories this is now the most followed one, so thanks for that as well. As thanks and since I wrote a shorter chapter a couple of weeks I made this chapter longer than usual. I think it's around 700-800 words longer, enjoy.**

* * *

"Never have I ever fell for one of my Art history classmates," Julie called out. Everyone except Julie had to drink. Simon had never been good at holding his alcohol, the party earlier in the semester had been a good example of that, which was why after having to drink so many times he was flat out drunk.

Three hours before

Simon, George, Beatriz, and Julie went to Julie's house so they could work on their project. As Simon looked around the fancy and luxurious house he was hardly surprised. Julie liked reminding people that she was an heiress of a company whenever she could, so it was obvious her family was loaded. Julie had security guards around the grounds of her house, butlers, maids, and even a few chefs. Simon wondered what it was like to live such a laid back life.

Simon continued to look around the house until he heard Julie call out to him. Everyone else was on their way to the living room while Simon was still near the entrance of the house. When Simon walked into the living room he took another look around and saw that the living room was probably the size of his entire apartment. There were three plus sized couches and a few chairs scattered across the room all pointing towards the seventy-inch flat screen TV.

Simon opted to sit on the same couch as George while Beatriz and Julie both brought chairs over to sit across from them. Julie also moved one of the coffee tables in between them so that they could set their books and other school supplies down.

"So," Simon started. "What artist should we make the presentation about?"

"How about One Direction?" Julie suggested.

"I want to do the presentation about Michael Jackson, the dude had some moves," George stated.

"I can't really think of an artist right now," Beatriz said.

Simon sighed loudly, this was just what he was afraid of happening, "Okay those are not the type of artists that I was talking about. For example artists we could write about would be painters. How about we use Picasso or Da Vinci?"

"I've never heard of them, they must not have any popular songs," Julie remarked.

"They don't sing songs, they were famous painters!" Simon exclaimed. "Drop this whole music idea, that is the wrong idea entirely."

"You know I'm not really feeling this, why don't we go swimming in my pool?" Julie queried. George and Beatriz both nodded their heads in agreement. "Great, I had some swimsuits picked out for you guys already hopefully the sizes are correct." Simon wished he had been in a two person group with Clary. If he and Clary were paired together they would surely earn an A, but the way it was looking his group was in trouble. Simon figured there was no point struggling against Julie, he would never be allowed to have his way anyway.

Simon went into the bathroom and changed into the swimsuit Julie had picked out for him. The pair that Julie picked was navy blue, which was Simon's favorite color. Julie's had a strong sense of fashion, which is why it was not surprising that he liked the swim trunks.

Simon walked out the back door and saw that the pool was in ground. He had never been in an in ground pool before, because they cost too much money to maintain so not too many people had one. Simon then looked over to where the others were: George was wearing similar trunks except they were red, Julie was wearing a revealing pink bikini, and Beatriz was wearing a white bikini. Simon had to take a breath as he saw Beatriz, while Julie on one hand had the figure of a barbie doll Beatriz on the other hand was fairly well endowed. Simon quickly looked away from Beatriz and looked back at the pool.

"Wow Simon I thought you would have some stomach flab, but your stomach is actually toned," Julie pointed out.

Simon was confused as to how to reply so he simply answered, "Uh, thanks I think?"

"Okay group picture time," Julie declared. Begrudgingly Simon smiled for the camera as Julie took a selfie with her selfie stick. Of course, she was one of those girls who would have one of those.

Jace looked up as he heard his phone go off and reached for it. It was another photo from Julie on Instagram nothing special, he was starting to lock his phone when he saw someone familiar. Was that Simon? There was no way he was hanging out with Julie and her friends. They were all in swimsuits too?

Jace realized that Izzy had Julie on Instagram too, so she would see this. He hurried to her room and opened the door and saw that her back was turned to him and her phone was in her hand. Izzy turned towards Jace and he saw the tears streaming down her face. This was the first time that Jace was speechless, he had no idea what to say to cheer her up.

George and Julie both laid down on lawn chairs and tried to tan, due to this Simon and Beatriz were alone. 'Do you want to swim then?" Simon asked.

"Sure, but I am not a very strong swimmer," Beatriz clarified.

"That's fine everyone is bad at something," Simon comforted. Simon then walked down the steps into the pool and Beatriz followed him. "How about we swim back and forth across the pool, that's easy enough right?" Beatriz nodded her head in agreement. "Alright then ready, set, go!" Simon was off to the races swimming as fast as he could, he touched the other end of the pool and then made his way back to the side of the pool he started on and touched the wall. Simon looked up after he finished and saw that Beatriz had yet to reach the first end of the pool, let alone turn around and make it back. Simon swam back to where she was and by the time he got there she reached the wall.

"See, I told you I was bad, you swam down and back and then down again in the time that I swam down," Beatriz pouted.

"It's fine, why don't you swim back? I'll keep the same pace as you." Simon insisted. Beatriz started to swim and Simon matched her pace, things were going pretty well until they made it halfway across the pool. All of a sudden Beatriz stopped swimming. "What's wrong?"

"Foot cramp!" Beatriz yelled. Before Simon could process what she meant, Beatriz sank underwater. Simon's body reacted on it's own as he dove in after her and pulled her up. Beatriz clung to him tightly with her hands interlocked behind his neck. Simon also felt something pressing soft pressing into his chest, when he looked down he saw what it was and immediately looked back up at her face. This was definitely the first time that Simon had made it to second base but he was trying very hard not to think about that, at the moment he had to swim well enough to keep both him and Beatriz above water. He looked over to where Julie was and called out for help. Julie rushed over and just when Simon thought she was going to help them, she took another picture.

"What are you doing? Help us!" Simon shouted. The two of them were about to drown and Julie was too busy taking pictures to help them survive. Simon was about to give up hope when he heard a splash, apparently George had realized what was happening because he had jumped in the water to help them.

A few minutes later after a lot of work Simon, George, and Beatriz were all sitting comfortably on solid ground. Simon was almost tempted to kiss the ground, which he had seen people do on TV before when they thought they were going to die but somehow survived.

Jace phone buzzed again and he picked it up immediately. He figured it would be another post from Julie and sure enough it was, this time it was a picture of Simon and Beatriz holding each other while swimming and the caption said, "Love in the water." Jace was about to check if Izzy had received that message as well, when he heard a large crash come from her room. It was official, she had already seen the photo. Instead of trying to comfort Izzy he decided to call Clary to find out what was happening.

After a few rings she picked up, "Hello? Jace? Did you need something?"

"Actually I did, I was wondering what was going on with Simon," Jace replied.

"What do you mean?" Clary inquired.

"Do you know what he is doing right now?" Jace questioned.

"He is studying with his group," Clary answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Are you sure about that? It doesn't look that way to me," Jace commented.

"Are you going to tell me what you mean or am I going to keep answering the same question? Simon left to work with his group," Clary reiterated.

"Take a look at Julie's Instagram and tell me what you think then," Jace proposed. Jace could hear Clary shuffling around as she tried to find Julie's Instagram.

"What is this? This doesn't look like studying to me," Clary said. "I'll find out what's happening and get back to you later." With that Clary hung up. So, even Clary had no idea that Simon was having a pool party with two of the most popular girls in school? Just what is Simon up to anyway?

Beatriz was finally starting to get closer to Simon. While it wasn't planned, what happened at the pool had definitely a start. Beatriz was humming happily whenever she heard a phone ringing as she rummaged around she saw that it was Simon's phone and he had a call from Clary. Beatriz quickly turned his phone off and put it back before Simon came inside, the last thing she wanted was Simon leaving early.

Simon had dried off and changed into his day clothes and was about to suggest they start working when Julie cut in, "Why don't we play a game of never have I ever? My parents have beer set aside for me to use with my friends, so don't worry about getting in trouble."

(Back to the beginning of the chapter)

Simon knew who he had fallen for, but who in that class had George and Beatriz fallen for? Maybe George liked Izzy or Julie or Beatriz? Beatriz on the other hand might like George or Jace? He tried not to think too hard about.

"Alright never have I ever slept with someone," Beatriz chimed in. This round only Julie and Simon drank. Everyone's heads turned when they saw that Simon drank however.

"Wait Simon you're not a virgin?" Julie asked in disbelief.

Simon realized he had misunderstood the phrasing of the sentence, he was already very drunk so he reasoning was pretty shoddy at the moment. "Oh you meant sleep with in that way. Then no, I have fallen asleep with a few girls before, but not in that way."

"A few girls? Since when were you a ladies man?" Julie questioned.

"Well I slept together with Clary many times since we have been friends forever, it happened with the other girl the last time I was drunk but nothing happened." Simon clarified. It was Simon's turn to come up with something. "Never have I ever dated anyone." This time only Julie drank. Simon looked to George who looked rather embarrassed, then Simon looked over at Beatriz and saw that she looked just as embarrassed if not more. How had these two popular people never dated before? Simon had no idea what to think, he thought all popular people had dated at least once before.

"I guess it's my turn then, never have I ever kissed someone," George stated. Again Simon and Julie drank. Simon was at a loss for words. They hadn't even kissed anyone? They were college students already!

While Simon and Julie were hammered, Beatriz and George had only had to drink on a few occasions. The world started spinning and then everything went black.

This was the perfect chance for Beatriz George was in the bathroom and both Simon and Julie were passed out. Just one kiss, that was all she wanted. She pushed her hair to the side and slowly leaned in to kiss Simon, but she stopped when she heard George say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"George," Beatriz started. "When did you get back?"

"Look I can tell that you like him, but kissing a sleeping person isn't cool. He can't give consent or tell you no if he's asleep. If you don't have the courage to kiss him when he is awake then you shouldn't be trying to kiss him in his sleep." George lectured.

"Yeah, you are right. I should have thought before acting, I wouldn't like it if someone kissed me in my sleep," Beatriz agreed.

"Exactly, anyway Simon's a nice guy I would hate for someone to take advantage of him." George replied. Beatriz took George's words to heart as she fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Simon woke up and felt like a rock band was playing in his head. He must have fallen asleep unexpectedly, because his glasses were still on his head. As Simon sat up he saw that he was not in his room. He looked around and the events of last night played in his head. He went to work on the project, swam, and then playing drinking games. If the last thing he remembered was playing drinking games, then he must be at Julie's house still. If he had to guess Simon would say he was in one of the guest bedrooms. How he got there though, he had no clue. This was the last straw, Simon decided that he would never drink again. While it might be fun in the moment, the after effect of alcohol was too much for Simon.

Once Simon's head cleared slightly he made his way into the living room where he saw Beatriz. He had gotten to know her better yesterday, so he knew that she was friendlier than he had previously thought. Simon tried to be social for once by sitting on the couch next to her. "What are you watching?"

Beatriz turned her head in his direction and flashed him a smile, "The Three Stooges. There's a marathon on right now," Beatriz added. Simon saw the three partaking in their usual shenanigans and cracked a smile. Simon didn't realize that popular kids liked them too.

"That's surprising, you don't really seem like you would like them." Simon mentioned.

"Why because I'm one of the popular kids?" Beatriz asked. Simon shook his head in agreement. "Fair enough, but my dad's always watching them. He ended up getting me into them too. Anyway, I'm sure you've seen by now that I'm not very similar to most popular kids."

Simon concurred, "That's true, typically whenever I think of popular kids I think of…"

Beatriz cut him off, "Do you mean Julie?"

"To be honest yes, she seems like the perfect 'It' girl," Simon stated.

"She might come off like that, but once you get to know her she's not so bad. Julie is very loyal when it comes to her friends, I can trust that she will always have my back," Beatriz pointed out.

"She sounds a lot like Clary in that way, she must be your best friend," Simon said.

"Yeah I guess you're right, I never really thought about it before," Beatriz replied.

"The muffins are done!" Julie exclaimed as she entered the room.

"You can bake?" Simon asked.

Julie glanced over at Simon and responded, "Yeah, so what? Do you have a problem with that?"

Simon chuckled slightly, for some reason Julie and baking didn't seem like they would go together. Simon decided to give Julie the benefit of the doubt, as he grabbed for one of the muffins. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Beatriz mouthing 'no' to him, but it was already too late. Julie was eagerly watching to see how he thought the muffin tasted, Simon couldn't back out now. Simon took a small bite of the muffin, or at least he tried to, and heard a loud crunch. "What flavor were these again? Rock solid? Wait, that's what I should name my band! Rock Solid Panda!"

Julie grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it at Simon, "Way to throw the hospitality I've shown you right back in my face. You are just so ugh!" Julie yelled as she stormed out of the living room back into the kitchen. Yep, he had definitely made her mad this time. Simon was just being honest though, it wasn't his fault that here cooking was terrible.

Once Julie was out of earshot Beatriz burst out laughing, "I told you not to!"

"It would have been rude of me to turn her down," Simon reasoned.

"But it was okay for you to say her muffins were rock solid? Then on top of that you started mentioning a band name. She even spent the past couple of hours making those."

Now Simon was starting to feel bad for Julie, which was something he never thought he would do. "Now I feel like I should apologize. She was right, she let us stay over and everything. I am such a jerk," Simon chastised himself.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Simon, Julie already knows how bad her cooking is. She is trying to improve so she won't take anything you say to heart," Beatriz explained.

"Oh, alright then. Oh crap! I need to talk to Clary! She's probably worried sick about me right now! I'll be back!" Simon exclaimed as he headed back to the guest room.

One his way back he ran into George who was mumbling something along the lines of 'one sheep, two sheep, red sheep, blue sheep.' Simon was pretty sure it was supposed to be fish instead of sheep, but he had no plans to correct George.

When Simon arrived in the room he closed the door behind him and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He saw that it was turned off and became confused. Simon was pretty sure he hadn't turned it off, but not all of last night had come back to him yet so he couldn't be sure. Simon turned his phone on and saw notification after notification pop up. He had thirty missed called from Clary and sixteen text messages. Oh boy, Simon was sure that Clary was going to give him an earful.

Simon took in a deep breath and pressed the dial button, the phone only rang once before Clary picked up, "Simon? No this can't be Simon, because he would have checked his phone. The only way Simon would ignore me is if he was dead or lost his phone. So which is it?"

"Calm down Clary, there's a perfectly good reason for my lack of communication," Simon explained.

"So it is you Simon. I thought you were dead! Do you mind explaining now?" Clary inquired.

"Well I went over to Julie's to work on the group project and I must have turned my phone off at some point," Simon lied.

"Really, that was all then? You just did school stuff is that right?"

"Yep, that was it. Nothing to worry about, we just worked through the night so we slept over."

"Simon Lewis! Since when did you become a liar? Why don't you check Julie's Instagram right now and tell me that again." Simon wasn't sure why Clary seemed so mad, until he saw what Julie had posted. There were photos from yesterday when he was swimming and some from when they were playing games. Some of the photos looked especially incriminating there was the one with him and Beatriz in the pool and they looked too close and there was another one where he and Beatriz were laying down practically on top of each other as they slept. "You've been quiet for a while Simon, have you been thinking of what you are going to say?"

"Just let me explain," Simon declared. He then went told her everything he could remember from last night.

"You just had to make me worry, if it weren't for those photos I would have been at Julie' banging on the door until someone brought you to me."

"You sound like more of a mom right now than a best friend," Simon teased.

"Shut up. I wouldn't press your luck if I were you. I'll see you later." With that Clary hung up.

"How come you didn't make your move last night?" Julie asked. "I gave you ample opportunity go for it, but you didn't try anything."

"That's not necessarily true, I tried to kiss him in his sleep, but someone stopped me," Julie clarified.

"You make it sound like I'm the bad guy here," George remarked. "What you were trying to do was flat out wrong. Like Julie said you had plenty of chances when he was awake."

"I know, I know. I'm just trying to take things slow at first, I don't want to push too hard and scare him off. He also just finished whatever was going on between him and Isabelle, so I'm trying to give him time for that too," Beatriz asserted.

"That's fine, just don't be too surprised if someone else takes him away from you," Julie responded. While Julie might be right, Beatriz was pretty sure that she could get Simon to notice her.

"I won't let that happen," Beatriz vowed. "He will fall for me." Isabelle had let Simon slip out of her grasp, but Beatriz would not let that happen. She was determined to make Simon like her back, she was sure that this was more than just a crush.

Simon walked back into the room, "Hey guys, I have to go back. I'll talk to you about the project later." Well there was always tomorrow for her to pursue Simon. After the events of last night Beatriz needed to rest.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry there were no updates for a few weeks, I was on vacation among other things. I was in a writing slump as well, so hopefully taking a break gave me enough fresh ideas. Thanks again for the support on the story. **

* * *

"Kiss me," She whispered as she pulled him into her embrace. Then, just like that, they were kissing. Her lips pressed against his, neither of them wanted to pull away. Kissing Beatriz felt so right. Wait what, Beatriz? Simon jolted awake. Why was he having a dream about Beatriz? On top of that it was a fairly intimate dream. In the end he chalked it up to teenage hormones.

Simon looked over at the calendar and realized that his birthday was coming up in a week. Was it nearly October 17th already? The days had been flying by ever since he started college. His birthday was on a Thursday this year, so that meant whatever party Clary was planning for him likely wouldn't happen until Friday at the earliest. Well he said party, but it was actually more of a get together between Simon, Clary, Luke, and Jocelyn. The four usually did something fun together like bowling or going to an amusement park. Simon was definitely looking forward to his party this year, he needed to take a step back from all of the drama in his life and relax.

Clary rolled out of her bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. She stripped down, walked into the shower, and then turned the water on. Clary was thinking about what happened with Simon the other day, Simon was always timid and afraid to talk to new people but he seemed to be opening up to three of the most popular kids he knew. Clary couldn't help but feel happy about the fact that Simon was growing as a person and making new friends on his own. While Clary still wanted to be his closest friend, she had always wanted him to make more friends.

After finishing her shower, drying off, and changing, Clary headed back into her room. She grabbed her phone and saw that she had a reminder for Simon's birthday. Was his birthday already next week? Clary had lost track of time, she was too focused on school and everything else to pay attention to what the date was. Well, she was going to have to figure something out and fast, she couldn't let Simon down on his big day.

First things first, she called a local cake shop and made an order for a cake to be made on the 17th. The next thing she did was call her mom and told her to bring Luke with her over to their apartment next Thursday. After that, she needed to make a plan for the weekend. A few new rides opened up at Simon's favorite amusement park recently, so that would work for the event. However, who should go with them? Simon and Clary were getting to the age that having a birthday party with your friends parents was humiliating. But if Clary wasn't going to invite his parents, then who should she invite? A light bulb clicked in her head and she realized who she should invite.

When Simon and Clary made it to class they were almost late, like usual. Today everyone was allowed to work in their groups, so Simon moved over to where his group members were. They turned the four desks so that they were facing each other. Simon sat to the left of George, Julie was in front of Simon, and Beatriz was to the left of Julie. "Since we didn't get any work done over the weekend, we actually need to work on this during class. The project is due on Friday, which means we might have to stay after one day and work on it," Julie stated.

Julie continued on but Simon's focus drifted to Beatriz. He took in her long black hair and her soothing smile. It was clear why she was one of the popular kids. She had physical beauty, but on top of that she was also a warm, kind, and intelligent person. Beatriz was the whole package in a sense.

"Simon!" Julie yelled. Simon brought himself back to reality and turned his head towards Julie. "Finally! That's the fourth time I called your name! You should be focusing on the project, not drooling over Beatriz." Simon's cheeks turned bright red, so he had been caught it seemed. As Simon glanced in Beatriz's direction he saw that she was blushing as well. "Are you ready to work now?"

"Yes, now where were we?" Simon asked.

When class ended Simon walked out of the classroom by himself. Clary said she had something to do after class, so he should just leave without her. Simon had made it down the hallway almost at the exit, when someone came up behind him. Before he knew it Izzy had put her hand out and pressed him against the wall. "We need to have a little chat Simon," Izzy declared.

Clary rushed down the hall until she caught up with Beatriz. She put her hand on Beatriz's shoulder as she pleaded, "Hold on!"

Beatriz turned around and said, "Oh Clary, did you need something?"

Clary took a few moments to catch her breath before replying, "Yes, I was wondering if you were busy next weekend or not."

Beatriz pondered her question before responding, "Not that I know of. Why? Did you have something planned?"

"Well, it's Simon's birthday on the 17th so I was wondering if you and your friends wanted to come along to an amusement park with us next weekend. We usually go with my parents, but it's pretty embarrassing to do that at our age," Clary explained.

Beatriz's face lit up as she exclaimed, "We sure can! Why didn't you say that from the start? Anyways I have to head to class, but text me the details and I'll make sure that the three of us make it."

As Beatriz walked away Clary thought to herself that it was weird how excited Beatriz was about Simon's birthday. Maybe popular girls were normally that excited, or maybe she really likes amusement parks? Anyways that wasn't the point, now everything was set in motion. Nothing could go wrong now right?

"A birthday party huh?" Clary heard a voice say behind her. As she turned around she saw that it was none other than Jace. "To think that you didn't even invite me to the party. I'm hurt."

"You know very well why you weren't invited to the party," Clary countered. "If you come along so will Alec and Izzy."

"I know. I know. It was only a joke, don't worry we won't intrude on your fun," Jace promised.

"Thank you for that," Clary stated. "I'll see you later then."

"Um you know what, I'm good. So if you could just let me go," Simon said as he tried to escape from Isabelle. But for some reason she was unnaturally strong and he couldn't escape. To top things off she then put her other hand against the wall on Simon's other side fully trapping him. "Alright I guess there's no way around this is there? What do you want?"

"Nothing much, just curious as to what you're up to these days. I see you have become pretty popular lately," Isabelle retorted.

"I'm not so sure about that," Simon protested. "I just happen to be in a group with popular people."

"Really now? That's interesting, because I saw many interesting posts on a certain someone's timeline that said otherwise," Isabelle stipulated.

Of course she had seen those, why hadn't Simon thought of that. "We just took a little break from working, I was strongly against the break to begin with."

"Is that so, because you look super friendly with Beatriz in these photos," Izzy alleged.

"Honestly, it's none of your business who I talk to anyway. Why don't you just leave me alone?" With that Simon forced his way away from Izzy and walked away. He didn't have time to deal with Isabelle right now. He needed to focus on the project that was due on Friday, then once that was done he could worry about whatever he wanted to.

"Okay guys, clear your schedules for next weekend," Beatriz said.

"Why would I do that?" Julie asked.

"Well, it just so happens to be Simon's birthday next week and Clary invited us. Isn't that great?"

"Alright, who cares? I might be warming up to the idea of him becoming an acquaintance, but it's not like we are friends or anything like that," Julie stated.

"Well I'm down with next weekend," George replied. "I think of Simon as a friend."

"See Julie? That's the spirit, but if you really don't want to go you can just stay home by yourself," Beatriz pointed out.

"Well when you put it that way, it has to be better than doing nothing at home," Julie reasoned.

"So it's settled!" Beatriz exclaimed with glee.


End file.
